AGREST BERKES

TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE BEST USE OF THE BIOMASS AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES.

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BIOMASS AS A FUEL
Nowadays, the use of biomass as a fuel is an actual issue and object of technologies developing in several countries, universities and international organizations. At follow, we present our experience, the Agrest Berkes experience and the main results of a long trip that begins at the ends of seventies. And please remind our more important objective: the use of biomass in the more efficiently and cleanest way!

Biomass cannot be characterized properly and reliably as a fuel. Depending on many factors, most of them even beyond the control of the producer, the composition of biomasses can vary wildly from year to year, from season to season and, even, from place to place. Biomass contains large proportions of ashes. These are often corrosive (alkalis) or have a low fusion temperature, leading to clinkerization problems in some combustion equipment. The presence of low fusion temperature silicates, carried into the fuel by its storage in piles on the bare ground, only compounds to the problem. Due to its origin, the production of biomass is seldom concentrated in a point so as to make convenient the building of a large power plant. On the contrary, biomass production is usually spread trough a wide area. Collection and transport of biomass to a concentration facility often renders the project economically infeasible.

ACTUAL SITUATION
Small-scale biomass burning has been the main energy source throughout mankind's history. With the development of fossil fuels, however, biomass exploitation was next to abandoned in Western Europe, the United States and Japan. Nowadays, ever-increasing environmental concern and the steady rise of crude oil prices brought biomass back in the limelight. Of course, the traditional uses of biomass have become obsolete, and its main application now is steam production, for processes, electricity generation, or both. Biomass has several characteristics that make it rather different from conventional fuels: Biomass often contains a variable but high degree of humidity, and its heating value is much lower than that of fossil fuels.

As a consequence, any system intended to burn efficiently biomass should, ideally, satisfy these objectives: The investment required should be kept as low as possible.

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Maintenance should be simple, and its cost should be low. The technology should be scalable, i.e. it should be possible to use the same design through a wide range of duties. The technology should make possible to reach high degrees of burning, thus reducing losses by unburned products in ashes or gaseous emissions. As a spin-off, the emissions should comply with increasingly tighter legal requirements (material particle, CO, NOx, etc.). Especially in applications to processes, the control of the combustion should closely follow any variation in the demand. In energy generation applications, the combustion should be stoppable quickly, in response to rejection of energy by the grid.

Specifically, since the ends of seventies, Agrest Equipamientos Industriales and Berkes works together and has designed two lines of equipment for extremely efficient small and mediumscale biomass burning: Torsional Chamber and Gasifiers. The very close collaboration between both companies permits the developing and continuous improving of the mentioned technologies. In the next paragraphs we will try to indicate the actual existing technologies to burn biomass and explain better the Torsional Chamber and Gasifiers, and why these developing could be possible in South America instead of Europe or United State.

EXISTING TECHNOLOGY
Most of the technologies currently in use in Western Europe derive from coal power plants: grates of various sorts (sloped, traveling grates, vibrating, and spreader stokers), dust burners, and fluidized beds. All of them lack some desirable features for an efficient biomass burner: Grates promote irregular combustion, thus leaving unburned particles, can lead to ash removal trouble and are unusable for very light residues. Also grates usually have very expensive maintenance costs.

To the best of our knowledge, no present technology could satisfy simultaneously all these requirements. At most, some existing technologies can meet several of them for a limited range of power sizes and for certain fuels. Fortunately, during the period of cheap-oil, the exploitation of cellulose fuels was not abandoned everywhere. Some South America countries (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil) are very rich in this resource, and developed advanced technologies for its use.

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Dust burners are limited to almost ash-free dusty fuels, such as sawdust. Fluidized beds require very high investments and are prone to operational problems in plants subject to frequent and sudden stops.

Nowadays we are introducing two specific technologies to burn in a proper and efficiency way the biomass and other agro industrial residues. These technologies are well know in South America, were it has close to 30 years of application and development. Also an extended list of users references it will be attached, with more than a hundred of installations from 1 MW thermal up to 80 MW thermal of output capacity. These technologies are known as: The Torsional Chamber The Gasifier

In the followings paragraphs we present a brief description of each technology. .

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HOW TO BURN BIOMASS EFFICIENTLY TORSIONAL CHAMBER

The torsional chamber is essentially a much-improved cyclonic furnace. Between 1940 and 1970 these have been very popular in the United States and West Germany, and to a lesser extent in the UK, France and Eastern Europe. At one stage in the early 1960s, over 30% of new boiler capacity in West Germany and over 20% in the USA were cyclone-fired. In recent years, the decline of the coal industry in Europe has resulted in a dramatic reduction in all types of coal-fired boilers, and many cyclone furnaces have been converted to oil-firing. Similarly, in the USA cyclone-fired boilers are no longer builtpartly because of a lack of suitable coals in some areas and partly because of the application of increasingly stringent emission limits on nitrogen oxides.

Figure 1. Diagram to illustrate the idea of torsional combustion. A torsional chamber is a horizontal cylinder connected to the boiler trough an inverted-cone-shaped neck, as can be seen on figure 1. The frictionless potential field created by injecting air tangentially along the periphery of the cylindrical chamber induces a friction bound rotational field at the axis, as a reaction to the former. While the tangential velocity of the potential field increases with the diminution of the radius, the tangential velocity of the induced rotational flow increases with the radius; where they equalize, a very active and

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turbulent boundary layer is formed, which, in the most favorable conditions, will support intense combustion. The particles of fuel are also injected tangentially to the cylinder. Those of them in the potential field able to flow towards the center follow an inward logarithmic spiral; the ones submitted to the rotational field follow an outward path of arithmetical spiral shape. At the boundary layer, while the particles in the potential field side only rotate around the center (the potential field being non-rotational), those on the rotational field side not only rotate around the center too, but also spin about their own axis. Twisting forces act at the boundary layer creating a torsional field around the burning particles. This interaction favors the disengagement of combustion products and gives access to fresh oxygen. By introducing a restriction at the end of the cylinder (the cone-shaped neck) the pressure created in the annulus of the throat promotes axial forces and the dynamics of the system are such that particles entering at the closed end follow a helicoidally path at the periphery of the cylinder towards the throat, return to the close end following a smaller diameter helicoids, and finally leave the chamber through the throat, in a still smaller diameter helicoidally path. This flow system provides for the long residence time required for a complete combustion. Measurements made in several installations reveal a particle residence time up to 60 times longer than the time the air takes to flow directly.

The chamber is formed by tube rings connected to upper and lower headers. The whole tube system is connected to the natural circulation of the boiler by an independent system of risers and downcomers. The gap between two consecutive rings is filled by plates welded to the tubes, thus conforming a completely water-cooled surface. Nozzles are placed along the gaps as needed to generate the aerodynamic fields.

Fig. 2. Nozzles between tube rings. The throat is also conformed with tubes. In this way, the recovery of thermal energy generated in the chamber is maximized, and refractory cladding (and, therefore, maintenance) is minimized. The only refractory bricks needed are located on the closed end of the chamber. The combustion fumes, along with a part of the ashes leave the chamber trough its neck and enter the boiler, while the remainders of the ashes are removed periodically from the torsional chamber.

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Figure 3 shows a torsional chamber without its external insulation layer. One can easily distinguish the rings of tubes and the upper and lower headings. On the left of the picture we can see the closed end of the chamber. A natural gas or diesel burner will be installed in this section to fire up the combustion. This particular chamber is used to burn sunflower hulls and is attached to a boiler that produces 20 t/h of saturated steam at 12 bar(a).

Figure 4 shows a similar torsional chamber once insulated and ready to transport to site. As before, we can see the closed end with the hole for installing the natural gas or diesel burner and (below) a cleaning door. The chamber in figure 4 was also designed to burn sunflower hulls to generate 14 t/h of saturated steam at 12 bar(a).

Figure 4. Torsional chamber ready to transport to site. The torsional chamber is appropriate to burn any solid or liquid biomass that can be transported in pneumatic suspension. The capability to be suspended depends on the density/cross sectional area ratio but, for many biomass types, this means roughly that the particles must have diameters ranging from 0,1 to 30 mm. There is no limitation whatsoever in burning together particles with wildly different

Figure 3. Torsional chamber without its insulation layer.

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sizes or densities, as long as all of them can be maintained in suspension. The torsional chamber can also be used to burn gases generated in a gasifier, or a mixture of gases and solid particles. Fuels with humidity below 20% can be injected into the torsional chamber without any additional treatment. If the humidity ranges from 20 to 30% the combustion air must be pre-heated to 100 to 150C. Finally, if the humidity is greater than 30%, the biomass must be dried before entering the torsional chamber. Typical fuels include wood chips, sawdust, sanderdust, sunflower hulls, cotton husk, grape and olive marcs, straws. The main advantages of the torsional chamber can be summarized as follows: Its investment cost is comparable to that of a grate and much lower than a fluidized bed. The torsional chamber technology is scalable over a wide range of required power. Agrest-Berkes has installed torsional chambers with powers ranging from 750 kW up to 30.000 kW. Most existing boilers can be retrofitted with torsional chambers.

Torsional chambers can be applied to both, watertube and firetube boilers.

Figure 5. Ashes coming from a grate (left) and from a torsional chamber (right). It allows an efficient combustion of the cellulosic residues, i.e., with very little air excess and with high degree of completation. As a graphical depiction of the efficiency achieved by torsional chambers, picture 5 shows a comparison between the ashes of two otherwise identical boilers burning sunflower hulls: one of them equipped with a grate and the other revamped with a torsional chamber. As we can see, the ashes coming from the grate (on the left) contain

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much more unburned carbon and are much darker than those coming from the chamber (on the right). As a consequence, the gaseous emissions (particles, VOCs and CO) are within current and foreseeable regulations without complex fume depuration systems. The combustion is very stable throughout the operational range of the chamber. It allows quick regulation, comparable to that of a fossil fuel burner.

Agrest-Berkes designs updraft gasifiers with water cooled walls. The residue is loaded into the gasifier trough its upper opening and moves downward, while the air is injected trough the gasifiers bottom and flows upwards. We can distinguish four layers along the residue's path: In the first (topmost) stage, the residue is dried by the hot ascending current. As the residue moves along, its volatile compounds become vaporized in the second stage. In the third stage, the carbon dioxide in the gas is reduced to carbon monoxide by reaction with a part of the fixed carbon of the residue (Bouduard reaction). Finally, in the bottom stage, the remaining fixed carbon burns in fresh air thus providing the carbon dioxide for the previous layer.

During the last forty years, Agrest has designed over fifty torsional chambers, twenty five of whom remain in operation. The total installed power is about 720 MW, and the combined operational experience is 2,5 million hours.

GASIFIER
When the particles of the available residue are too large to transport in suspension, the most obvious strategy would seem to grind them. This procedure, however, is often technically difficult and always expensive. In some cases the problem can be solved by pyrolizing the residues in a gasifier.

The ashes are removed periodically from the bottom of the gasifier. Since some of the reactions in the gasifier are exothermic, its walls are cooled by water tubes connected to the boiler's risers and downcomers. This way, all the thermal energy is carried into the boiler either by the hot gases or by the water circuit.

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The updraft gasifier is not at all a new, untested technology. On the contrary, it has been around for over five decades. Its major advantages are very well known: It is very insensitive to the size of the fuel. It is insensitive to scale changes. The gas obtained has a low concentration of particles, since the upper layers of fuels act as a filter.

Fig. 6. Gasifier rotary grate ready to transport to site. The result is a high-temperature (ca. 500C), low calorific value mixture of volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, steam and nitrogen. This gas is then sent to the boiler's burner: the torsional chamber. This torsional chamber has some design points different that one for particle fuels, but the essence and main principle are the same. In this technology, since the final fuel is a gas, a high degree of completion of the combustion can be achieved, with low air excess. Additionally, the flame can be controlled as in any regular gas combustion, with high speed of response.

On the other hand, the main disadvantage of updraft gasifiers with respect to other gasification technologies is the high concentration of tars in the gas obtained. Thus, if the gas so produced were intended to fire an engine or turbine, it will have to undergo a complex, expensive and difficult to maintain process of cooling and chemical depuration. This process often involves metal catalyzers which tend to get poisoned (due to the inherent unreliability and variability of the biomass composition). Agrest-Berkes's design goes around this problem by burning the pyrolisis gas in a torsional chamber (optionally, together with solid residues). Since the gas never cools below 500C, the tars remain gaseous and do not deposit on the walls of the equipment.

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On the other hand, they cannot be used to gasify mixtures with high content of low fusion temperature ashes. During the last decades, Agrest-Berkes has designed over a hundred gasification facilities, most of which remain in operation. The total installed power is about 820 MW (thermal output), and the combined operational experience is 4 million hours.

Fig. 7. Gasifier pressure body ready to transport to site. Of course, if the aim is to generate electricity, the efficiency of a Rankine cycle is lower than that of a gas engine or gas turbine. Still, the investment required is so much lower that more than compensates the reduced efficiency. Another distinctive characteristic of Agrest-Berkess design is that water-cooled walls are used instead of refractory cladding. Thus, erosion which might be caused by descending biomass fragments is avoided and the frequency and the cost of maintenance are reduced. Gasifiers can be used together with a torsional chamber for any kind of residues with a humidity not higher than 50%; higher values or moisture content are now in study and testing.

In closing, gasifiers and torsional chamberseither alone or working togetherconstitute the optimal solution for the combustion of cellulose-based fuels in the small and medium ranges (up to 120 t/h of steam). Both are mature technologies, with many plant-years of experience.

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HOW TO SELECT THE APPROPIATE TECHNOLOGY

BIOMASS

Particles > 30 mm NO YES

Moisture Content < 30% (wb) YES NO NO

Fuels with very low melting point of ashes YES GASIFIER SPECIAL DESIGN (*) OR STANDARD GRATES Bark (>20% in mass), contaminated fuels (with sand, etc.).

TORSIONAL CHAMBER Small wood chips, sunflowers husk, sawdust, sanderdust, cotton husk, grape and olive marcs, straw, etc.

Fuel Dryer YES NO

GASIFIER (+ GasTorsional Chamber) Wood chips, wood logs, bark (up to 20%), branches, forestry residues, waste from wood industrialization, etc.

TORSIONAL CHAMBER

GASIFIER (*)

(*) Please, ask us for each specific application; for some kind of fuels could be not applicable.

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TYPE OF BIOMASS FUELS

List of fuels approved and with several installations working:

o o o o

Briquettes Core corn Sawmill residues Bark mixed with other biomass (less than 20%)

DIRECTLY IN TORSIONAL CHAMBER: o Sunflowers husk o Cotton husk o Peanuts husk o Barley husk o Soybean husk o Chestnut husk o Sawdust o Sanderdust o Coffee bean byproducts o Grape marcs o Olive marcs o Small wood chips o Flax straw o Straw of cereal o Straw of corn o Snuff dust o Tung flour GASIFIERS: o Wood logs up to 1,2 m in length o Wood chips: eucalyptus, pine, Alamos, etc. o Sawdust mixed with wood chips

List of fuels at experimental stage (testing in pilot plants).

DIRECTLY IN TORSIONAL CHAMBER: o Rice husk o Animal meal GASIFIERS: o Bagasse of sugar o Bark (mixed with other biomass in more than 20%) o Bagasse of sorghum o Rice husk List of potential innovative biomass fuels to develop in the future. o Sludge o Municipal waste o Vegetal plant residues o Furniture waste o Textile waste

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BIOMASS GASIFICATION: BASIC CONCEPTS

C + H2O + 118,5 kJ/mol = CO + H2 Gasification adds value to low value feedstock by converting them to marketable fuels and products. From a chemical point of view, the process of biomass gasification is quite complex. It includes a number of steps like: thermal decomposition to gas, condensable vapors and char (pyrolysis); subsequent thermal cracking of vapors to gas and char; gasification of char by steam or carbon dioxide; partial oxidation of combustible gas, vapors and char. (reaction 3) The most important reduction reaction are the water gas reaction (reaction 3) and the following Boudouard reaction: C + CO2 + 159,9 kJ/mol = 2 CO (reaction 4)

These heterogeneous endothermic reactions increase the gas volume of CO and H2 at higher temperatures and lower pressures. Other reduction reactions that take place are the followings water shift reaction and methanisation reaction: CO2 + H2 + 40,9 kJ/mol = CO + H2O C + 2 H2 = CH4 + 87,5 kJ/mol (reaction 5) (reaction 6)

REACTIONS Combustion in the oxidation zone: C + 02 = CO2 + 393,8 kJ/mol C + O2 = CO + 123,1 kJ/mol (reaction 1) (reaction 2)

Other possible reactions are: CO + O2 = CO2 + 283,9 kJ/mol H2 + O2 = H2O + 285,9 kJ/mol (reaction 7) (reaction 8)

These two reactions are exothermic and provide the heat necessary for the endothermic reactions in the drying, pyrolysis and reduction zone. The water vapour introduced with the air and production by the drying and pyrolysis of the biomass reacts with the hot carbon according to the following heterogeneous reversible water gas reaction:

Both produce heat (which is beneficial to the gasification process), but they are not desired because they reduce the heating value of the gas.

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GASIFICATION PARAMETERS Some basic and relevant parameters regarding biomass gasification are: Equivalence ratio, indicate the oxygen used relative to the amount required for complete combustion. Common values are from 0,2 to 0,4. Superficial velocity and hearth load. The superficial velocity is one of the most important parameters determining the performance of the gasifier. It is defined as the gas flow rate (m3/s) divided by the cross sectional area (m2). The actual velocity is much higher due to the presence of biomass material. The hearth load is the superficial gas velocity at the smallest cross section. Gas heating value. Usually expressed in MJ/Nm3 where a normal cubic meter is referring to the gas volume at 1 atmosphere and 0 C. There are two ways of expressing gas heating value: HHV Higher heating value LHV Lower heating value Gas flow rate and gas production. The gas flow rate can be calculated from the primary air flow if the fuel composition is know. The gas production usually is expressed per unit of fuel input (Nm3/kg). Efficiency It can be expressed on cold or hot gas basis. Cold gas efficiency is the chemical ehergy content of the producer gas divided by the energy content of the biomass. Hot gas efficiency is the chemical and heat energy content of the producer gas divided the energy content of the biomass.

In the Agrest.Berkes design of gasifiers, the Hot gas efficiency is close to 100%. Fuel consumption Usually is expressed on a unit mass per time (kg/h) or unit mass per energy produced (kg/kWe).

BIOMASS CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO GASIFICATION Each type of biomass has its own specific properties, which determines its performance as a fuel in gasification plants. The most important properties for gasification are: Moisture content It is defined as the quantity of water in the material expressed as a percentage of the material weight; usually it is referred on a wet basis (kg water / kg material wet). Ash content and ash composition Ash is the organic or mineral content of the biomass, which remains after complete combustion. The amount of ash influences the design of the gasifier, particularly the ash removal system. The chemical composition of the ashes is also important because it affects the melting behavior of the ash. Ash melting can cause slagging and the gasifier blocked. Elemental composition The elemental composition of the fuel is important with respect to the heating value and the emission levels in almost all applications.

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Values of nitrogen, sulphur and chlorine are very important to the correct design of the entire system. Heating value The heating value is determined by the elemental composition, the ash content of the biomass and in particularly on the fuel moisture content. Bulk density and morphology The bulk density refers to the weight of material per unit of volume. It differs for various types of biomass. Together with the heating value, it determines the energy density of the gasifier feedstock, i.e. the potential energy available per unit volume of the feedstock. The bulk density is important for handling and storage behavior and also for the performance of the gasifier. The size and the size distribution of the biomass are important in determining the pressure drop over the fuel bed and for satisfactory operation. Volatile matter content Besides operating conditions (mainly combustion steady conditions), the amount of volatiles has an impact on the tar production levels. Usually for biomass materials the volatile matter varies between 50 and 80%. Other fuel related contaminants like N, S, Cl, alkalies, heavy metals, etc.

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AGREST-BERKES GASIFIER: UPDRAFT TYPE The simplest type of gasifier is the fixed bed updraft gasifier. The biomass is fed at the top of the reactor and moves downwards as a result of the conversion of the biomass and the removal of ashes. The air intake is at the bottom and the gas leaves at the top. The biomass moves counter-currently to the gas flow, and passes through the drying zone, the pyrolysis zone, the reduction zone and the oxidation zone. The major advantages of this type of gasifier are its simplicity, high charcoal burn-out and internal heat exchange leading to relatively low gas exit temperatures and high gasification efficiencies. Because of the internal heat exchange the fuel is dried in the top of the gasifier and therefore fuels with high moisture content (up to 50% wet basis or even 60%) can be used. Furthermore this type of gasifier can even process a wide range of fuel size particles (up to logs of 1,2 m). The use of this type of gasifier combined with a torsional chamber as a burner, have another advantage: the high amounts of tars and pyrolysis products are simply burnt. It is no needed a gas cleaning system to take out the tars. AGREST-BERKES GASIFIER: ADVANTAGES OF THIS TECHNOLOGY In closing, the main advantages of the Agrest-Berkes gasification technology are:

High thermal efficiency. Easy to operate and regulate. Very low air excess. High amount of the ashes extracted for the bottom of the gasifier; this mean low fouling in the boiler. Environmental friendly; low values of emissions: particle material, CO, NOx. Very low costs of maintenance. High availability rates (hours/year). Wide range of fuels characteristics. Steady and safety combustion, including flame supervision.

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AGREST-BERKES BIOMASS TECHNOLOGIES: BACKGROUND AND RESULTS

Values achievable (at 6% O2 reference) TORSIONAL CHAMBER Boiler thermal efficiency: from 88% up to 92% in LHV basis Air excess: 15 20 % Combustion regulation 20 100 % Emissions: o CO2 > 17% o O2 < 5% o CO < 200 mg/Nm3 o NOX < 400 mg/Nm3 (depending on the fuel composition)

Both described technologies (Torsional Chamber and Gasifier with Gas Torsional Chamber) can achieve and fulfill with the international standards and regulation for the environmental emissions. To fulfill the particles material limits simplex filter equipment (baghouse filter) are enough in opposition to very complex treatment gases systems required by other combustion technologies.

GASIFIERS Boiler thermal efficiency: from 86% up to 93% in LHV basis Air excess: 10 20 % Combustion regulation 20 100 % Emissions: o CO2 > 18% o O2 < 5% o CO < 200 mg/Nm3 o NOX < 400 mg/Nm3 (depending on the fuel composition)

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List of references
INSTALLATIONS WITH TORSIONAL CHAMBERS (BERKES - AGREST REFERENCES) Year 2005 2004 2002 2002 2002 2001 1998 1998 1998 1997 1995 1993 1993 1992 1992 1992 1992 1988 1987 1986 1984 Customer Weyerhaeuser Temsa Temsa Faplac S.A. Linera Bonaerense Nortea ICI Indunor S.A. Indunor S.A. Kruguer Defor S.A. Faplac S.A. Guillermina Conti Paraguay La Luquense La Luquense Nidera Genaro Garcia Genaro Garcia Molinos Rio Planta E.C.Welbers Country Uruguay Chile Chile Argentina Argentina Uruguay Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Chile Argentina Argentina Paraguay Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Ton/h bar 35 4 6 3 4 3 12 60 60 12 3 3 26 15 12 12 60 20 20 30 35 20 12 12 12 8 12 12 56 56 12 12 12 40 32 12 12 60 12 12 32 38 C saturated Sunderdust saturated Sawdust saturated Sawdust saturated Sawdust saturated Cereal straw saturated Barley husks saturated Grape seed 450 450 sat sat 400 400 Sawdust Sawdust Sawdust Sawdust Sawdust Cottom husk, sunflower husk Fuel Notes Capacity of torsional chamber: 15%

saturated Corn core

saturated Rice husk saturated Oats 450 Sunflower husk saturated Soybean husk saturated Snuff dust 400 400 Cottom husk Sawdust

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Year 1980 1978 1977 1977 1974 1968 1958 1956

Customer Aceitera Gral Deheza Industria Quim.di Legno Industria Quim.di Legno Liquid Carbonic S.A. Indunor S.A. Giacomo Costa Inquimar Cardonner Riva

Country Argentina Italia Italy Chile Argentina Italia Argentina Argentina

Ton/h bar 30 50 50 4 40 20 8 2 12 60 60 12 30 32 16 10

C saturated Peanut husk 470 470 sat 400 400 Chesnut husk Sawdust Sawdust Sawdust Olive seed

Fuel

Notes

saturated Flax straw saturated Cork waste

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Year 2008 2008 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006

INSTALLATIONS WITH WOOD GASIFIERS (BERKES - AGREST REFERENCES) Customer Country Capacity Steam Capacity Pressure Temperature (Gcal/h) (ton/h) (bar) (C) Weyerhaeuser Uruguay 67,9 90,0 80 480 Lcteos Dulei Uruguay 6,6 10,0 8 Saturated steam Bioener Uruguay 47,6 70,0 69 525 Skretting Chile 8,2 12,0 10 Saturated steam Siemens Spain 31,2 40,0 40 450 Fenirol Uruguay 37,3 50,0 47 480 Urupanel Uruguay 16,4 25,0 23 Saturated steam Cervepar Paraguay 18,0 27,0 12 Saturated steam Conaprole Uruguay 6,8 10,0 15 Saturated steam Ca. Chilena de Fsforos Chile 6,7 10,0 8 Saturated steam Paycueros Conaprole Conaprole Conaprole Perdigao Perdigao Perdigao Seara Azucitrus Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Brasil Brasil Brasil Brasil Uruguay 6,7 6,8 6,8 6,8 13,4 13,4 8,1 5,4 10,1 10,0 10,0 10,0 10,0 20,0 20,0 12,0 8,0 15,0 10 15 15 15 12 12 12 10 12 Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam

Notes In advanced In advanced In advanced In advanced In advanced In advanced In advanced

Existing Boiler

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Year 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004

Customer Oleaginosa Raatz Tabacalera del Este S.A. Yarus Tops Fray Marcos Calcar Curtiembre Naussa Paycueros Fanapel Fanapel Maderas Martn Ambev (Cympay) Villarural Carlos Schneck CNC Establecimientos Colonia Sadia Seara

Country Paraguay Paraguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Chile Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Brasil Brasil

Capacity (Gcal/h) 10,1 3,4 13,4 1,0 2,7 2,7 6,7 18,5 10,0 10,0 12,0 0,5 2,7 5,0 6,7 9,1 8,0

Steam Capacity (ton/h) 15,0 5,0 20,0 1,5 4,0 4,0 10,0 24,0 15,0 4,0 10,0 13,5 12,0

Pressure (bar) 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 21 8 8 10 10 10 12 10

Temperature (C) Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam 350 C Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam

Notes

Existing Boiler

Heat Water Boiler (In advanced) Heat Water Boiler Wood Dryer

Lime furnace Existing Boiler

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Year 2003 2003 2003 2002 1999 1997 1995 1994 1994 1993 1993 1993 1993 1993 1993 1993 1992

Customer Lanasur Adesa Continental Paraguay S.A. Balas Florestal Arlei S.A. Okulovich S.A. Casafuentes S.A. Casafuentes Casafuentes S.A. Carlos Schneck Carlos Schneck Montepaz Tableros Guillermina S.A. Okulovich S.A. Rogacchesky Casafuentes S.A. Conaprole

Country Uruguay Paraguay Paraguay Brasil Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina Uruguay

Capacity (Gcal/h) 2,7 8,1 13,6 8,1 4,0 1,7 6,7 6,3 1,7 2,0 2,0 2,7 20,7 1,3 1,3 1,7 6,8

Steam Capacity (ton/h) 4,0 12,0 20,0 12,0 6,0 10,0 9,5 3,0 3,0 4,0 26,0 -

Pressure (bar) 10 15 20 12 10 10 8 10 10 10 40 -

Temperature (C) Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam term Saturated steam Saturated steam term Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam 400 C term term

Notes

Existing Boiler

Existing Boiler Tea dryer

Tea dryer

Existing Boiler Tea dryer Tea dryer Tea dryer

10,0

20

term Saturated steam

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Year 1990 1989 1989 1988 1988 1988 1988 1987 1987 1987 1987 1986 1986 1986 1986 1986 1986

Customer Aserradero MBM S.A. Frigorifico Colonia Comp. Argentina de T S.A. Dancotex Paycueros Paycueros Martes Azucarera del litoral S.A. (Azucarlito) Manzanares - Cardal Pepsi Cola Interamericana Azucarlito S.A. Pyrlon Cibils Frigorifico Tacuarembo Frigorifico Tacuarembo Fripur S.A. Fibromadera S.A.

Country Argentina Uruguay Argentina Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay

Capacity (Gcal/h) 5,4 6,7 2,7 2,0 6,7 6,7 0,7 27,0 2,7 1,3 12,0 2,7 2,0 5,4 5,4 2,7 2,7

Steam Capacity (ton/h) 8,0 10,0 4,0 3,0 10,0 10,0 1,0 35,0 4,0 2,0 4,0 3,0 8,0 8,0 4,0 4,0

Pressure (bar) 10 10 12 10 10 10 10 25 15 10 10 10 10 10 10 16

Temperature (C) Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam 350 C Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam

Notes

Boiler N 1 Boiler N 2

Dryer Existing Boiler

Boiler N 1 Boiler N 2

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Year 1985 1985 1985 1985 1985 1984 1984 1984 1984 1984 1984 1984 1983 1983 1982 1982 1982

Customer Frigorifico Canelones Molino Puritas S.A. Azucarlito S.A. Azucarlito S.A. Frig. Cruz del Sur S.A. Liquid Carbonic S.A. Agroindustrias La Sierra S.A. Agroindustrias La Sierra S.A. Agroindustrias La Sierra S.A. Agroindustrias La Sierra S.A. Molinos San Jos S.A. Layfa S.A. Harden S.A. Fortuna S.A. Cybaran S.A. Liquid Carbonic S.A. Gas y Energa S.A.

Country Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Brasil Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Chile Chile

Capacity (Gcal/h) 6,7 1,3 22,9 22,9 1,3 2,0 17,6 6,7 2,0 0,5 0,7 3,4 2,7 4,1 5,4 4,0 0,5

Steam Capacity (ton/h) 10,0 2,0 30,0 30,0 2,0 3,0 26,0 10,0 1,0 5,0 4,0 6,0 8,0 6,0 -

Pressure (bar) 10 10 25 25 10 10 16 16 10 12 10 16 10 10 -

Temperature (C) Saturated steam Saturated steam 340 C 340 C Saturated steam Saturated steam 300 C 300C Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam -

Notes

Existing Boilers (N 1) Existing Boilers (N 2) Existing Boiler Existing Boiler Existing Boiler (N 1) Existing Boiler (N2) Dryer Dryer Existing Boiler

Dryer

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Year 1982 1981 1981 1980 1980 1980 1980 1980 1970 1947 1945 1942

Customer Coleque Carlos Schneck Carlos Schneck Hielogas Inlacsa Ind. Maderera del Norte Refrescos Norte S.A. Secadero Algas Citrex S.A. La Cantbrica S.A. Mackinnon - Coelho Celulosa Argentina

Country Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay Chile Argentina Argentina Argentina Argentina

Capacity (Gcal/h) 1,3 1,3 1,3 5,4 1,3 0,7 0,7 9,0 0,1 12,0

Steam Capacity (ton/h) 2,0 2,0 2,0 8,0 2,0 1,0 1,0 12,0 15,0

Pressure (bar) 10 10 10 16 10 8 10 14 30

Temperature (C) Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam Saturated steam 300 400

Notes

Dryer Existing Boiler Furnace

Existing Boiler

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AGREST-BERKES BIOMASS TECHNOLOGIES: TODAY AND THE FUTURE

For the past thirty years we achieve the recognized and the confidence of almost a hundred of customers in South America: Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile. We are now introducing our Technologies into the European market. At the present, the projects concreted at CE zone are: A pilot unit with a Torsional Chamber to test different types of fuels installed at CIRCE, Zaragoza University, SPAIN. Plant to burn in a Torsional Chamber coffee residues at SEDA, Palencia, SPAIN. Watertube Boiler to burn wood waste and sawdust from doors and windows manufacturers, at Villacaas, Toledo, SPAIN. This boiler has a capacity of 40 ton/h at 40 bar and 450 C and its burning system consist in gasifiers and torsional chambers. Firetube Boiler to burn sunflower husk in a torsional chamber, at Buzau, Romania. This boiler has a capacity of 20 ton/h at 12 bar.

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