Cummins NG Generator Modified to Run on Bio-Syngas

Syngas is just H2 and CO, with a small pinch of CH4 and a tiny dash of CO2 thrown in for variety. You can create syngas from coal, natural gas, biomass, bio-waste, or any carbonaceous material. The ability to use bio-syngas from high-moisture biomass, to power natural gas generators and natural gas turbines, provides a very quick and convenient means of extracting useful power from cellulosic biomass -- without the messy acids, enzymes, fermentations, distillations, or catalysations of other cellulosic biofuels methods. Just direct biomass to power via syngas.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota, in partnership with Cummins Power Generation, Inc., has begun a project to demonstrate the production of heat and power from high-moisture biomass. Cummins Power Generation has provided the electrical generator for the project, a key component in producing 35-40 kilowatts of power a day, enough for one home.

The Cummins generator, which normally runs on natural gas, has been modified to run on synthetic natural gas (syngas) produced by an EERC-developed advanced gasification unit.

The EERC’s gasification unit can convert a range of fuels, such as forestry, agricultural, and industrial biomass waste; animal waste; waste plastics; and railroad ties or cable poles as well as a range of coals, into clean syngas. Together, the Cummins and EERC technologies will work in harmony as a gasification-based combined heat and power technology, with a variety of applications.

The physical properties of the biomass feedstocks, such as their origin, storage, and aging, can often vary. That variation can affect the performance and, ultimately, impact stack emissions when used in a typical internal combustion generator. The synergistic and seamless integration of an advanced gasifier and the engine generator will overcome this limitation and achieve environmentally acceptable emissions. The project aims at demonstrating this fact. _GCC

Biomass is a low energy density fuel. But it grows anywhere, and can provide moderate heat and power levels for a wide range of purposes far off the beaten track. Portable gasifiers can be airlifted into a remote site, providing full functionality for a wide array of powerful machines in remote wilderness, far from any highway.