Our technology

How gasification works

A general gasification process converts feedstocks into dirty synthesis gas (syngas)

The base of the process is a reaction which takes place when feedstock is ‘gasified’ through high temperatures over 700 degrees in the presence of a limited quantity of oxygen

The result of this reaction is a mixture of gasses called syngas. Typically, this ‘dirty’ syngas is then used to run a cogeneration plant producing electrical and thermal energy

The ability to produce a stable and clean syngas through a process of advanced gasification is of greatest value as it can then be upgraded into a variety of fuels such as a natural gas substitute hydrogen, rDME (renewable and recycled carbon dimethyl ether), diesel or sustainable aviation fuels

Achieving a clean syngas has generally been the major challenge for the gasification technology sector to date

It is only matter of balance!

Combustion

High presence of oxygen low heat

Gasification

Correct presence and balance of oxygen and high heat

Pyrolysis

No oxygen high heat

Our advanced gasification solution

Our proprietary advanced gasification solution is the result of over a decade of technological innovation at our flagship Sustainable Energy Centre, located in the Midlands, UK

Read more about our commercial scale plant here

A proven technology solution

Using our own commercial-scale operational plant as a base, we intentionally set out to challenge conventional thinking on waste to energy technology design, addressing the lessons of past sector failures

Based on our existing operational plant design, we have developed a compact modular technology platform solution which can be manufactured to a standardised design by experienced build partners with established production facilities and supply chains

Flexible in the feedstocks it can use and easy to install and integrate into industrial processes with the option to install multiple units in parallel for bulk fuel production, our modular platform enables our customers to enjoy greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of generally greater than 65% and 100% depending on the feedstock and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) application. Our units have the capacity to work from 20,000 tonnes per annum of feedstock to over 400,000 tonnes per annum

Our modular platform solution

XTH

XTH – ‘X’ – anything to heat – a non-reformed syngas that can be used in direct combustion e.g., kilns, boilers, and furnaces. Feedstock to syngas energy conversion efficiency for XTH is >80%

XTE

XTE – ‘X’ – anything to equilibrium – a clean, tar-free, reformed syngas with a stable composition. Feedstock to syngas energy conversion efficiency for XTE is >70%. Carbon capture ready

XTF

XTF – ‘X’ – anything to fuels – upgrades the reformed syngas to produce rDME, hydrogen, diesel, distillates, and aviation fuel. Feedstock to fuel energy conversion efficiency for XTF is >50%. Carbon capture ready

Our technology process

Our technology highlights

Our process enables more effective conversion to syngas and management of syngas quality irrespective of the feedstocks used. This allows us to use more niche waste feedstock specifications
Through our proprietary advanced gasification design and syngas reformation process, a consistent hydrogen-rich syngas quality is produced irrespective of the feedstocks used
We have proven the effective conversion of various types of wastes and biomasses through our process at our operational commercial-scale plant in the UK

Our high-pressure process design requires a smaller footprint and smaller vessel sizes to achieve base case performance
The smaller design size reduces CAPEX, with typical vessels with atmospheric pressure design recording 8-10 times less steel and refractory mass per plant
We can achieve a higher efficiency in converting feedstock into quality syngas. The smaller physical footprint of the vessels means that heat loss is lower making the system more efficient

Our Equilibrium Approach Reformer is our own patented technology that converts all the hydrocarbons in the syngas into hydrogen and carbon monoxide
As a result, our syngas has no tar rather a stable hydrogen-rich composition, no matter what the inlet feedstock composition
This is a unique and ground-breaking feature, allowing all the issues related to waste-based syngas generation to be overcome. This allows for the processing of difficult residual wastes and low-grade biomasses

Our strategy is to deploy our technology through modules, manufactured to a standardised design by experienced manufacturing partners with established production facilities and supply chains
This lends itself to significant deployment synergies, cost reductions and enables rapid deployment of modules, removing supply chain pricing risk and lead time uncertainty that larger more bespoke projects are exposed to
It allows us to address the smaller scale industrial co-location plants (aided by operations at pressure), which require a smaller and more compact project footprint which can fit into existing on-site infrastructure. Equally, the modular approach allows industrial clients to start small and then build further capacity when comfortable with the technology’s operational robustness. These modules can also be configured into a group for larger advanced fuel projects, meaning these projects can benefit from additional multiline flexibility and lean-manufacturing value enhancements, which larger bespoke project configurations cannot offer

Our products are carbon capture ready in all XTE and XTF configurations proposed above, suitable for CCUS in the immediate future
This places us as one of the small handful of sustainable technologies capable of providing cost-effective negative carbon emissions with the addition of carbon capture
Our approach is a commercially ready, integrated solution that would support and ultimately feed into future CCUS infrastructure