Status of peat biogasification development

The status of a four-phase development program to confirm that biogasification is a technical and economical process for the conversion of peat into pipeline quality methane is presented. The biogasification of peat is based on a two-stage process. In the first processing stage (assumed to follow hydro-mining) an oxidative pretreatment of peat breaks down the lignocellulosic structure to water soluble, lower molecular weight organics, i.e., simple aromatics, wood sugars, and carboxylic acids. The exothermic reaction provides the necessary heat to maintain moderate pretreatment temperatures of less than 180 C. Unreacted peat solids are separated (to be processed as boiler fuel), while the recovered liquid, containing the soluble organics, is converted to methane and carbon dioxide by conventional anaerobic fermentation is the second stage of the process. A significant advantage of the biogasification process is that technical difficulties of peat dewatering (to greater than 50% solids) necessary for conventional gasification are eliminated. Biogasification can be readily integrated into an environmentally acceptable and economically viable peat utilization concept involving hydro-mining, slurry transport, and wet processing.