Efficiently using bioenergy through a modular fuel and load flexible combined heat and power system based on a modern steam engine
Efficiently using biowaste to meet electricity and heat demands in farms is becoming critical for achieving fossil free agriculture. The project aims to develop, test and validate a modular fuel and load flexible combined heat and power (CHP) system that is based on a modern steam engine to decarbonize the agricultural and industrial sectors. By integrating a dual-fuel burner with the steam engine, almost all forms of biofuel can be simply used to meet the heat and power demands in the farms. The CHP system will be developed based on a close collaboration between KTH, Ranotor, Maston, and two end-users.
Background
According to the IEA Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, the world is on a trajectory to significantly overshoot targets of Paris agreement for global warming, so reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is urgent since. Among all the sectors, agriculture accounts for 12% of global annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (7.1 Gt CO2 equivalent), primarily through non-CO2 emissions, namely CH4 (54%) and NOx (28%) . In Sweden, GHG emissions from agriculture amounted to 6.9 Mt in 2019, equivalent to 13% of Sweden’s total emissions. In addition, the agriculture sector consumes a significant amount of energy for powering machines, drying grain, heating farm buildings and so on. According to the data from Energimyndigheten, the energy consumed by Swedish agriculture sector is approximate 6 TWh.
So far, decarbonizing the Swedish agricultural sector remains a huge challenge. First, fossil fuel is still widely used for powering various machines in the farms, accounting for 3/4 of the energy consumption. Second, the agriculture biowaste is still not sufficiently utilized. The most common way is directly burning agriculture biowaste for heating farm buildings and drying grain. Third, the capital costs of infrastructure improvements for producing refined biofuel or biogas are high. Almost all the commercially available gen sets rely on high-quality fuels, such as diesel, petrol and gas. To use the agriculture biowaste as fuel for power generation, it must be converted to refined liquid biofuel or biogas through biorefinery or gasification facilities, which is still more expensive than fossil fuels. In addition, with the rapid electrification of Swedish farms recently, the share of electricity in the energy structure is increasing fast. Therefore, how to efficiently use the agriculture biowaste in a cost-effective way to meet both electricity and heat demands is becoming critical for decarbonizing Swedish agricultural sector.
Aim and objectives
The project aims to develop a modular fuel and load flexible combined heat and power (CHP) system that is based on a modern steam engine to decarbonize the agricultural and industrial sectors. The main objective is to achieve total thermal efficiency above 80% and an electrical efficiency above 30%.
Project Partners
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KTH Royal Institute of Technology
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Maston AB
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Ranotor AB
Funding is provided by the Swedish Energy Agency, Maston AB and Ranotor AB.
Timeframe: April 2026 - December 2028
Keytags: Fossil free agriculture, Modern steam engine, Dual-fuel biomass burner, Combined heat and power
References
Researchers
