Possible applications

Waste disposal and energy production
Waste: municipal solid waste (MSW), biomass, plastics and every kind of organic carbon.
Energy: electricity, fuel-gas and heat

Competitive advantage

Advantages
1. It does not reject any type and form of raw organic matter.
It can treat organic matter(s) such as kitchen garbage, wooden paper and plastic waste individually and all kinds as well. Also there is no need to standardize the form of waste matters.

2. High calorie gas can be obtained.
As there is no entry of the air, the generated gas does not contain nitrogen and becomes high calorie gas.

3. Easy operation
As the equipment works on normal pressure, it is not subject to the high pressure gas regulation law.

4. Electricity generation by compact plant is available.
As the power generation by incineration treats high pressure gas and the steam turbine only provides with low power generation efficiency, the profitability is difficult to achieve unless the volume of waste reaches 100 ton and over per day.
In the meantime, as C-POWER has a structure which gains revolution by the engine worked by the same normal pressure gas as the gas for the car, it is easy to handle with high efficiency. For these reasons, the profitability can be attained by the volume of waste of 10 ton per day.

5. Environmental burden is small.
As it works on thermal chemical reaction in non-oxidized environment, it does not generate harmful substance such as DXN, NOx and SOx.

Identification of competitive technology
Landfill & Incinerator
Power generation by steam

Performance

The electricity generating process based on current technologies is to incinerate MSW (municipal solid waste), generate high-pressure steam, rotate the turbine and generate electricity.
These technologies require:
  a. MSW of 100 tons/biomass of 200tons or more a day
  b. Dioxine treatment process
  c. Qualified persons handling high-pressure gas
  d. Lower steam temperature (leads to lower power generation efficiency below 20% for MSW of 100 tons)

Our technology called C-POWER* thermally decomposes organic carbon such as MSW, biomass etc. generates the fuel gas, rotates the engine, and generates electricity. This technology has the following advantages over the current technologies:
  a. MSW of five tons a day is enough to operate plants
  b. The Dioxine treatment process is unnecessary
  c. A special qualification person is unnecessary
  d. Higher power generation efficiency around 40%

*One of our recent technologies named Hybrid kiln includes “spiral small cylinder” in horizontal rotating cylinder which enables pyrolisis and steam reforming at the same time.

More than 80% energy recovery ratio (= Net produced gas energy / energy contained in organic carbon)
C-power plant operation with U-turn kiln can produce about 0.7 kWh/kg-df of electricity, and that with spiral-turn kiln can produce approximately 1.2 kWh/kg-df.
The residue rate is approximately 15% for U-turn kiln, and about 5% or less for spiral-turn kiln.

Conceivable risk

Fluctuation of waste collection should be carefully monitored.

Technical maturity / Past record of introduction

Development history of C-POWER
・2000 Invention of horizontal rotating cylindrical kiln (U-turn kiln)   Inventor: Taizo Kunii (Professor emeritus of 
  University of Tokyo)
・2004 Design, production and experiment of pilot plant (20kg/h)
・2006 Design of test plant (200kg/h)  Power generation 100kW
・2011 Design of commercial plant (tree waste 2,000t/year)  Power generation 100kW
・2012 Invention of spiral cylinder interior horizontally rotating kiln (Hybrid kiln)
           Inventor: Akimichi Hatta C-POWER LLC CEO
・2015 Design, production and experiment of hybrid kiln (2kg/h)
・2018 Design, production and experiment of hybrid kiln (20 kg/h)

Practically commercialized equipment (Commercial plant)
This plant was developed as a demonstration plant for pyrolysis gasification using biomass by 3 companies, i.e. CR-POWER LLC (Formerly OSTRAND Corp), Tekken Corporation and East Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO).
Such plant was an electricity generation plant by pyrolysis gasification using wastes of unnecessary grass and trees collected after the cutting and pruning of these which grow on the roadside during the maintenance process for the express way and the plant was installed in the rest area at Nasu-kogen of south bound Tohoku Express Way.
In March of 2014, 3-year-demonstration experiment was finished. Then its practicability was proven as biomass power generation plant.
Since May of 2015, the necessary modification and additional construction was conducted in order to use as commercial plant and it was brought into pilot operation in November and in March of the 2016, it was delivered to the NEXCO. After that the plant was put into a continuous operation as the commercial plant and NEXCO has been conducting pyrolysis power generation using wastes of grass and trees collected during the maintenance process for the express way. Under such circumstance, C-POWER (horizontally rotating cylindrical power generation plant) is a first commercial plant.

Information on patent related to this technology

N/A

Name	CR-POWER LLC
Address	1F Place Canada 7-3-37, Akasaka, Minato-ku Tokyo, Japan
Capital	25 million yen
Contact person	Mr. Akimichi HATTA Telephone +81-90-3226-8503  URL: https://www.cr-power.jp/eng/ E-mail [email protected]
Number of employees	7 (1 for international operation)
Date of company foundation	1st October, 2018
The type of business	Process design for the plant to collect energy from the waste (WTE), Waste To Energy and in EPC, Engineering, Procurement and Construction.

Modality of business transaction

Partnership
We arrange partnership in WTE business and WTE process engineering.

Schematic illustration of technology

Business of C-POWER LLC
C-POWER* is a gasification power generation plant by a heat chemical reaction.
*C-POWER is an acronym of C of Carbon and POWER of Pyrolysis of Organic Waste to Energy & Resources and a trademark for pyrolysis gasification plant by CR-POWER.
The pyrolysis gasification plant which CR-POWER LLC developed using horizontal rotary kiln (Name: C-POWER) has pyrolysis capability per capacity 5 times and more when compared with the pyrolysis gasification plant of conventional rotary kiln. Therefore, the compact type of such plant can prove its high performance.
Also C-POWER has superiority in the respect that it can obtain 3 times as much high calorie gas as calorific value and it works regardless of type of fuel and form when compared with other pyrolysis gasification plant such as vertical kiln, rotating hearth kiln.
As C-POWER has large output of power generation and by its simple structure, the maintenance is easy and it can provide with profitability even when the plant is compact.
The factories, offices and small municipalities who entrusted their waste treatment to some companies can be benefitted in (1) stopping the waste treatment cost, (2) the cost reduction for the electricity and fuel by introducing C-POWER.

Characteristic of C-POWER
1. It features pyrolysis, not bio-decomposition.
As an energy use technology for combustible waste (organic), the power generation plant by incineration using combustion heat o organic waste is brought into practical use. While there is a technology which is put into use by using bio-decomposition of organic matter (decomposition by bacteria) to obtain fuel gas, C-POWER is a technology which obtains fuel gas by pyrolysis of organic matter.

2. It is not partial combustion pyrolysis but it is non-combustion pyrolysis.
In order to conduct pyrolysis of organic matter, the heat is necessary. The technology where the air (oxygen) is put into the pyrolysis equipment and that the pyrolysis is achieved by the heat derived from partial combustion of decomposed matter inside pyrolysis equipment is widely used. C-POWER works on non-combustion technology where the air is not put into the pyrolysis equipment and instead, the pyrolysis is achieved by the heat which is exerted from outside.

3. The style of C-POWER is not fixed bed, not fluidized but rotating filled bed.
The movement of solid organic matter in the pyrolysis equipment is categorized. One is fixed bed where the matter moves from top to the bottom according to the gravity. In the rotary kiln, the matter moves down in a slanted way while being rotated, otherwise, fluidized bed which makes matter afloat by the force of current is used but C-POWER is different from all of these and it is rotating filled bed style.

Technical description

As shown in figure 1, our system of thermal decomposition for organic wastes consists of a hopper, feeder, rotary reactor, condenser, gas refiner, oil (gas) storage tank and dual fuel engine generator.

Specification of pyrolysis plant

Plant capacity	200 kg/h
Input (Raw materials)	Mixture of plastics (30.7%), biomass (60.8%) and others (8.5%) Bulk density 500 kg/m3
Output (Products)	Gaseous products: 80 – 100 Nm3/h; 20,900 – 25,100 kJ/Nm3 ( Electricity 120kWh/h) Char 20 – 30 kg/h

Development of C-POWER by Hybrid kiln

<Horizontal rotary kiln which conducts pyrolysis and reform of tar and char simultaneously: C-Power S>
C-POWER was completed as a pyrolysis gasification power generation plant but the tar (liquidized hydrocarbon compound) and char (solid hydrocarbon compound) which occur by pyrolysis simultaneously with gas need to be extracted from the kiln to be separately treated in a form of fuel. The gasification efficiency is about 50%.

The next subject is the development of high performance gasification equipment at gasification efficiency of 100% and more which enables (1) gasification of organic matter by pyrolysis at one equipment, (2) gasification of generated tar by pyrolysis, (3) gasification of char.

Gasification efficiency = obtained gas energy / organic energy input

As twice as much energy can be obtained by single equipment, the profitability can be maintained even by the compact plant. In this way, the organic carbon which is left behind by the factory and offices can be utilized at such place as a source of electricity and heat. Also by the waste incineration power generation, the extensive collection of the waste and their transportation become unnecessary. And then, it accelerates the prevention of global warming.

                      Fig. 3 C-POWER U commercial plant (materlals: cut and pruned grass, and branches 5ton/day)

                      Fig.4 Engine generator 100kW (At the rest area of Nasu-Hyland in Tohoku Express Way, Japan)

Fig. 5 Experiment plant of horizontal rotating cylinder type S installed at The National Institute of Advanced Industrial 
         Science and Technology (AIST) in Tsukuba city, Japan (Joint study by AIST and CR-POWER LLC)

                                                                   Fig. 6 Entire photo of S-turn kiln

                                                       Fig. 7 The scheme of horizontal rotating cylinder

Typical operating results based on a pilot plant

1. Operation; Mixed plastics (Higher calorific value 9,519kcal/kg-dry base)
The components of mixed plastics used as feedstock and the typical operating results are shown in Tables 1 and 2 respectively. Operating conditions included a temperature of 700 degrees Celsius and feeding rate of 20 kg-plastics/h.

                  Table 1Contents of three elements of mixed plastics

	Moisture	Ash	Combustibles	Total
wt%	1.04	2.19	96.77	100

                       Table 2Element of Combustibles (Dry base)

Ash	Combustibles	Elemental analysis						Total
		C	H	N	O	S	Cl
2.21	97.79	73.8	12.9	1.11	9.86	0.03	0.09	100

                   Table 3Output: Gas, Oil, Char (by pilot plant 20kg/hr)

	wt%	Remarks notes
Gas	87.9	Calorific value: 10.630kcal/Nm3
Heavy tar	5.8	Boiling temp: >more than150℃
Light tar	4.6 (3.3*)	Boiling temp: 150-50℃
Char	1.7
Total	100.0

*water content

2. Operation; Municipal solid waste
Dry MSW was heat resolved, and a combustible gas, the tar, and Char were obtained.

             Table 4Contents of municipal solid waste (original sample)*

	Water	Ash	Combustible	Total
wt%	45.8	5.6	48.6	100

*Higher calorific value 11,700 kJ/kg-wet base, 21,500 kJ/kg-dry base

   Table 5Contents of municipal solid waste prepared as RDF (dried sample)*

	Water	Ash	Combustible	Total
wt%	2.9	13.1	83.9	100

*Higher calorific value: 20,000 kJ/kg-dry base

                                 Table 6Elemental composition

Analytical results of six elements, (wt%)						Subtotal	Other	Total
C	H	N	O	S	Cl
44.7	6.7	0.9	31.9	0.0	2.6	86.9	13.1	100

*Higher calorific value: 20,000 kJ/kg-dry base

                 Table 7Output : Gas, Oil, Char (by pilot plant 20kg/hr)

	wt%	Remarks notes
Gas	52.5	23800 kJ/Nm3
Heavy tar	2.8
Light tar	29.1 (14.9*)
Char	15.6	Organic: 3.3, Inorg.: 12.3
Total	100

*Water content

Comparison between conventional furnace, U-turn and S-turn kiln

　　　Table 8 Technical comparison between conventional furnace and CR-POWER’s facilities

	Conventional type	CR-POWER
	Vertical furnace	Type of rotation cylinder
		U-turn kiln	Spiral-turn kiln
Acceptable waste	Piece of wood (improper plastics)	Various combustibles (plastics, garbage, paper, wood etc.)
Heat supply	Partial combustion	Heat transfer
Fuel gas electricity obtained	Usual 0.5kWh/kg-df	Slightly large 0.7kWh/kg-df	Quite large 1.2kWh/kg-df
Quantity of residual	5% or less	About 15%	5% or less
Case of operation	Every country	Japan: Highway Nasu-Kogen service area	Japan: P-company commissioned from NEDO