The production of biochar from PL by pyrolysis/gasification at
this scale is still a novel process and there is currently no available
biochar produced from UK PL. Although PL is currently being converted
to biochar using gasification in the US neither the PL itself
nor the resultant biochar are comparable. To allow suitable analyses
associated with the biochar production systems four options
are created. The criteria for selecting options include being technically
viable and being placed in commercial applications, both in
the short-term and long-term. For each option, the likely capital
expenditures, operating and maintenance costs along with the
BESP for the plant under certain conditions will be determined.
To summarise, these options are as follows:
Option 1: biochar production along with a heat utilisation
installation (heat is utilised for composting and drying with
no commercial value);
Option 2: biochar production along with a heat utilisation
installation (heat is sold for space heating in residential
buildings);
Option 3: biochar production along with an electricity generation
installation (heat is utilised for composting and drying with
no commercial value);
Option 4: biochar production along with a combined heat and
power (CHP) installation.