North Haven, CT (June 17th, 2013) - Precision Combustion Inc. (PCI) announced today that it has been awarded an EPA SBIR Phase I grant to develop and demonstrate a fuel flexible, low emission burner for biomass derived gas used in waste-to-energy systems.

The economics of biomass gasification waste-to-energy (WTE) plants can be greatly improved by enabling plant operators to be more opportunistic in their choice of biomass input feedstock without combustion problems resulting from gases with different heating values and chemistries.   These wastes include a wide range of bio-based fuel stocks (biomass from wood and/or grasslands) or organic waste streams (manure and farm waste, municipal solid waste (MSW), sawdust).  Plant operators need a single burner solution that can effectively handle a variety of gas compositions without pre-treatment. 

In the Phase I effort, PCI will design, develop and test a catalytic burner for the wide range of produced gas compositions associated with biomass sources from municipal, farm, forestry and agriculture waste. This burner will incorporate PCI’s proprietary RCL® technology which has been proven in demanding gas turbine applications and in this project will be targeted for these wide ranging fuels to operate stably and achieve low emissions without the need for fuel doping and/or co-firing.  RCL® technology is highly scalable and well suited for the variety of plant processes, sizes, and feedstock utilized in this emerging renewable energy market.

According to Sandeep Alavandi, the Principal Investigator,

The burner solution will enable companies to utilize a wider range and potentially more local feedstock thereby improving system flexibility while reducing emissions and improving overall economics of their biomass energy operations

According to Kevin Burns, PCI President,

For plant operators who are limited by biogas properties, our catalytic burner will broaden the range of economic fuel compositions beyond those feasible with conventional burners and be readily integrated into process heating, boiler and engine operations.

Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy technology company developing and manufacturing catalytic devices and systems for energy sector applications.  To learn more, visit www.precision-combustion.com.