A Packer Engineering Project
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Introduction
Process
Similarities
Introduction
[Note: the information on this page is also available in PDF format]
What is the purpose of the Green Fuels Depot?
The Green Fuels Depot is will use emerging alternate energy technologies to convert collected yard residue flexibly into three fuels (electricity, hydrogen, and ethanol) used to operate municipal fleet vehicles. It will become a model for municipalities across the country to use biomass residue to power fleet vehicles. These carbon-neutral fuels are produced from landscape materials which currently cost the City money to remove. Municipalities having 7,000 or more single family dwellings can reduce pollution, displace purchases of foreign petroleum, reduce budgets for fuel costs, and avoid costs for hauling and disposal of yard waste.
Who is coordinating the green fuels depot?
The City of Naperville, Argonne National Laboratory, the College of DuPage, Packer Engineering, Inc., and the Center for Application Based Learning (CABL) are working together to accomplish the construction and operation of the Green Fuels Depot demonstration program. Packer Engineering is a private company, a small business, with multiple research programs into alternative energy, as well as a broad-based engineering consulting practice. The project will be run through CABL, a 501(c)(3) (“not-for-profit”) organization. The technical project manager will be Dr. Peter J. Schubert, P.E., Senior Director for Space, Energy & Education Research at Packer Engineering.
 
 
How big is it?
This demonstration project processes wood chips at a rate of one ton per day, and can produce enough electricity to power about 12-15 suburban homes. The prototype consists of several modules, all installed out-of-doors. The largest is the thermochemical conversion reactor, which sits on an 8 foot by 10 foot skid, and is about 8 feet tall. An enclosed generator set, and the switchgear for grid interconnect, are smaller (about 3 feet by 4 feet each), and are placed nearby.
 Who is paying for the project?
Primary funding comes from the U.S. Department of Energy through a Congressionally Directed Project at the request of U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (IL 13th). Packer Engineering and the City of Naperville are also providing a modest amount of non-cash contributions to the overall project. These non-cash contributions include the temporary use of land and buildings for the project, plus time and effort on the part of salaried employees.
Where will the Green Fuels Depot be located?
The current plans include for consideration siting at the Springbrook Waste Facility, behind the 25 foot tall earthen berm, near the intersection of 104th Street and Plainfield/Naperville Road.
What is the benefit to the residents of Naperville?
The Green Fuels Depot will use typical yard waste collected by the city to create energy to be used for city vehicles. This reduces the amount that the city would have to pay for its energy needs, which would in turn reduce the amount of money the city needs to operate services for its citizens. In addition, new jobs will be created in our area. Once this prototype has been demonstrated, we expect to create a business capable of bringing greater employment, tax revenues, and publicity to our community. Eventually, we hope to sell Green Fuels Depots across the country, and around the world.
Process
How is the energy produced?
Packer Engineering has been developing a machine called a gasifier (see image below) that can take plant residue and convert it into a gas by heating it in the absence of oxygen. This gas, called synthesis gas by chemists, or “syngas” for short, can then be processed through a generator set to produce electricity. Or, it can be converted to ethanol using a process being developed at Argonne National Lab. The gasifier also produces hydrogen gas, which can be used as a fuel in itself. The three fuels produced will then be used to operate alternative fuel vehicles within the municipal fleet.
How clean is it?
In August of 2010, an independent third party air emissions testing company performed a so-called “stack test” on the output of a system of nearly identical size. The measurements were all in compliance with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (I-EPA) safe emissions limits.
Are there harmful byproducts of the gasification?
No! The novel aspect of the Packer Engineering gasifier is that the process breaks down harmful byproducts that are created by other gasification systems. The main byproduct of the gasifier is a black carbon char. This char is full of rich nutrients needed in soil and could therefore even be sold to local farmers to help fertilize their land.
How much energy is produced?
The system produces about 15 kilowatts (kW) of electric power, enough to run about 12 suburban homes. Some of this power is used to keep the system operational. The remainder can be used as electricity for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), or can be supplied back to the Naperville grid. The system has the capability to divert a portion of the energy produces to make hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), or to make ethanol for flexible-fuel vehicles.
What kinds of yard waste can be used in the gasifier?
The gasifier can process basically anything with a high concentration of cellulose, which means any organic material with a brown or green color. For this demonstration we will use wood chips from the spring brush collection conducted by the City of Naperville. In past years, the city has paid to have some of this material removed. This project will help avoid or reduce that cost.
What kind of gases will be released by the Green Fuels Depot?
Only water vapor and carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere. The water vapor may appear white on cold days. The white vapor is not smoke, it is what comes out of a tea kettle. The carbon dioxide (chemical formula CO2) is colorless, just as the exhaust of your automobile is colorless if running properly. Because plants grow by absorbing carbon dioxide, the CO2 released by the Green Fuels Depot merely replaces it in the atmosphere, where growing plants can absorb it again. This is the natural carbon cycle of our atmosphere.
Will the Green Fuels Depot be noticeable to nearby residents?
The fans of the heat exchangers are no louder than a large room fan. The engine which runs the generator has a muffler, and is no louder than a truck engine. There should be little or no odor. The white water vapor produced on cold days could be the only thing noticeable from the road.
Similarities
What is the gasifier like?
The heart of the gasifier is similar to a self-cleaning oven. High heat converts organic material into gases, which escape, and a black/gray char. In our GFD gasifier, the gases are captured, since they have fuel value, and used to run a generator to produce electricity. The black char is a non-toxic soil amendment, and can be used to help plant growth when mixed with soil.
What is the system like?
The system is like a water softener, which you fill with salt when it's empty. The salt is used up and cleans the water. In the GFD system, a hopper is filled with wood chips once a day. It gets fed automatically, and produces a clean exhaust which meets EPA emissions limits.
Tell me more about the ethanol part?
The ethanol is like a home brewery which converts grains into alcohol through yeast fermentation. In the GFD, special bacteria convert the organic gases into a brew having a similar alcohol content to beer. Distilling this mix produces the pure ethanol (like Everclear) that can be blended with gasoline for flex fuel vehicles.
How is the biomass handled?
The front end of the GFD system is like an in-home vacuum system. Wood chips are sucked up into the machine by vacuum, and a cyclone filter separates the biomass from the air. The biomass drops into the gasifier, producing fuel gases.
How does the generator work?
The back end of the GFD system is like a portable backup generator for your home or office. Instead of running on diesel or gasoline fuel, our generator is designed to run on fuel gases. A home backup generator has sockets into which you can plug appliances like a refrigerator. Our system is a bit larger, and delivers power to a circuit breaker from which you can run electrical sockets. The GFD system produces enough electricity to run about 20 refrigerators.
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