EQTEC Iberia SLU (EQTEC Iberia), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ireland-headed gasification technology developers EQTEC plc, has announced that it has received approval from the University of Lorraine's research laboratory on wood material (LERMAB) to carry out tests utilising Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) at the Feedstock Research and Demonstration Plant that was built in collaboration with EQTEC, located at the University of Lorraine (UL), in France.
According to EQTEC, the ability to test RDF as a feedstock in the University of Lorraine plant is of significant importance, as it should provide the company with “accurate operational data” on the behaviour of project-specific types of RDF, which it can then share with, inter alia, both potential and existing project partners, funders and stakeholders.
Such operational data is the company says, “critically important” in order to widen the number of potential providers of project funding and it could potentially reduce the timeline to financial close by enabling a commercial understanding of the feedstock at an earlier stage in the project process.
In addition, it anticipates that access to the data can assist in reducing the cost of insurance-backed premiums in relation to performance warranties thus will lead to increased demand for its technology.
Operational since 2015
EQTEC has been collaborating with Dr Yann Rogaume from LERMAB, as well as UL’s Engineering School, National School of Wood Technologies and Industries (ENSTIB), since 2012. In 2014, EQTEC’s proprietary gasifier technology was selected as the technology for the plant testing facility, which was built in 2015 having been financed from French and European public funds.
Several tests have been carried out since 2016 on various biomass fuels. During 2019, following an upgrade, the plant was also utilised for RDF tests by blue-chip operators in the waste sector, such as TIRU, a subsidiary of EDF Group specialising in waste recovery.
These RDF tests were conducted under the auspices of the ‘Terracotta Project’, in which EQTEC was involved alongside EDF, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), TIRU and UL. The aim of the ‘Terracotta Project’ has been to assess the feasibility of RDF gasification at an industrial scale, the results of which have been positive to date.
We are excited that this important RDF testing capability has been approved at Lorraine University. We believe that this will deepen and strengthen our relationship with universities and research centres committed to finding energy from waste solutions, which are both commercially viable and environmentally sound, through the use of our EGT technology. The skills and experience at LERMAB are world-class and this collaboration should continue to bring value by reassuring strategic partners and operators in the space about the capabilities of our technology. We are very proud of LERMAB’s and the University of Lorraine’s continued endorsement of our technology, commented Yoel Aleman, CTO of EQTEC.
