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DOE Thermochemical Users Facility 

A Proving Ground for Biomass Technology 

Biomass Program Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals, Materials, and Power 

Making Gaseous and Liquid 

Fuels and Valuable Chemicals 

from Biomass 

Heating solid hydrocarbons and carbohydrates (fossil fuels or biomass) with limited or no oxygen, can gasify, pyrolyze, 

or steam-reform them to gaseous syngas 

(a mixture of carbon monoxide and 

hydrogen), liquid pyrolysis oil, or other 

intermediate products, depending on the 

temperature, amount of oxygen, and use 

or not of steam. Both syngas and pyrolysis oil are inherently cleaner burning and 

more flexible fuels than the original solid 

biomass, but they can also be converted 

into more valuable fuels and chemicals. 

U.S. Department of Energy scientists are at 

the forefront of biomass gasification and 

pyrolysis research. In Golden, Colorado, 

they have a world-class facility for developing and proving their own gasification 

and pyrolysis technologies and those of 

industrial partners. 

Is your company developing or considering products or technology based on 

gasification or pyrolysis of biomass? Could you benefit from the opportunity 

to test that technology in a world-class facility—staffed by leading experts 

in the field—without having to construct your own pilot plant facility? 

The National Bioenergy Center at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides a state-of-the-art 

Thermochemical Users Facility (TCUF) for converting renewable, biomass 

feedstocks into a variety of products, including electricity, high-value 

chemicals, and transportation fuels. This biomass refinery consists of integrated unit operations that can be configured to accommodate the testing 

and development of various processes. Reactors, filters, catalysts, and other 

unit operations can be inserted into the process development unit for evaluation by mutiple users. Combined with the expertise of NREL researchers, 

the TCUF offers clients an unsurpassed opportunity to test their process 

ideas in a timely and cost-effective manner, and to quickly and safely 

obtain extensive performance data on their processes or equipment. 

Key Components 

The key components in the TCUF are the Thermochemical Process Development Unit (TCPDU), the Catalyst Testing Unit, and the Generator Test 

Cell. The TCPDU can be integrated with downstream Catalytic Synthesis 

Units to produce fuels and chemicals, or with the Generator Test Cell to 

produce electricity. 

Flexibility, modularity, moderate cost, abundant data, multiple 

integrated-unit-operation evaluation, bench-scale to commercialization linkage—the DOE Thermochemical Users Facility offers 

industrial partners a multitude of benefits, without the time and 

expense of building their own facility. 

Jim Yost Photography/PIX 12684 

NT

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DEPARTM

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U.S. Department of Energy 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

Bring ng you a prosperous future where energy s c ean, abundant, reliable, and affordab e 
Two-Inch Fluidized Bed Reactor 

and Fuels Synthesis Reactor

Another key component of the TCUF is its two-inch fluidized bed reactor (2FBR) which is used to catalytically reform 

pyrolysis vapors to hydrogen, and catalytically reform 

gasifier tar in raw syngas. In addition to being a standalone operation for conducting catalyst studies, the 

2FBR is also frequently used to catalytically condition 

slipstreams from the TCPDU. This system is large enough 

to guide scale-up of future processes yet small and versatile 

enough to yield this information in a reasonable time frame.

Thermochemical Process Development Unit (TCPDU)

The heart of the TCUF is a 0.5 ton-per-day-feedstock 

[10-25 kg (22-55 lb) –per-hour] Thermochemical Process 

Development Unit (TCPDU). Depending on the research 

needs, the TCPDU can be operated in either gasification or pyrolysis mode. Its main purpose is to provide 

authentic biomass–derived product streams that are precisely controlled, measured, and characterized. Specific 

research objectives determine how the product stream 

may be used or integrated with other TCUF operations 

such as gas cleaning and conditioning, fuels synthesis, 

or power generation. The main unit operations in the 

TCPDU include: 

•	Loss-in-weight, rotary valve feeding system

•	8-inch diameter fluidized bed reactor

•	1.5-inch diameter by 100 feet tubular thermal

(steam) cracking reactor 

•	Two cyclones in series

•	Hot baghouse filter

•	 Full-stream catalytic tar cracker

•	Wet scrubber system.

The TCPDU operates at atmospheric pressure and can 

handle reaction temperatures as high as 875°C. Additional unit operations allow for evaluation of alternate

process configurations. A variety of particulate removal,

secondary catalytic conversion, and condensation equipment are available. Because of the TCPDU’s modular 

design, it can also accommodate other types of equipment 

supplied by research partners.

A separate fuels synthesis (Autoclave Engineering) reactor 

converts syngas to liquid fuels such as methanol, mixed 

alcohols, and diesel fuel. The ability to catalytically 

synthesize a wide-range of chemicals from syngas is an 

exciting aspect of thermochemical processing of biomass. 

Commercially proven fuels synthesis technologies can be 

tested with conditioned biomass-derived syngas to evaluate how best to integrate these into a biorefinery.

Generator Test Cell

The TCUF’s generator test cell (GTC) allows researchers to 

investigate and develop strategies for integrating biomass 

gasifiers with power generation equipment. The GTC uses 

wet-scrubbed syngas from the TCPDU to produce power in 

a variety of configurations. 

The GTC can test syngas power generation with internal 

combustion engines, gas turbines, or fuel cells. It includes 

a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder, spark-ignited engine directly coupled 

to a 17-kW generator, a 30-kW Capstone micro-turbine,

and a 5-kW solid-oxide fuel cell. In addition to testing

syngas produced in the TCPDU, these electrical generators 

can be operated on natural gas or with synthetic syngas 

made by mixing bottled gases in an automated gas-mixing 

manifold. This allows for direct comparisons of emissions 

and operating characteristics over a range of operating 

conditions for various fuel compositions. 

Gas cleanup with systems such as these scrubbers is a key element of biomass gasification. Excessive tar builds up on and interferes with generating equipment operation, 

as well as causing hazardous air emissions. NREL researchers have developed substantial expertise in limiting tar production and in removing tar from the biomass syngas.

Jim Yost Photography/PIX 12678

DOE Thermochemical Users Facility—A Proving Ground for Biomass Technology
 

 

 

 

 

Real-Time Sampling and Chemical Analysis 

The TCUF facility and laboratories are unique in that 

they have the capability to analyze products on-line over 

a wide spectrum of chemical compositions. A collection 

of dedicated analytical instruments has been assembled 

and connected to the process with special sampling 

methods. The analytical equipment used throughout the 

TCUF include: 

•	A	molecular-beam	mass	spectrometer	

•	Three	gas	chromatographs	

•	Eight	non-dispersive	infrared	sensors	

•	A	thermal	conductivity	detector	

•	A	paramagnetic	oxygen	sensor

•	A	residual	gas	analyzer

•	A	comprehensive	exhaust	emissions	bench.

Together these instruments provide for a range of spatial 

and temporal resolution for the commonly occurring 

species found in biomass gasification and pyrolysis 

products. The species that can be detected include: H2, 

CO, CO2, CH4, C2’s - C25+, H2S, HCl, H2O, O2, N2, NH3, 

NOx, SOx, and CH2O. In many cases, duplicate species 

detection is available to permit cross-calibrations and 

checks. NREL has also developed a transportable molecular-beam mass spectrometer (TMBMS). This allows 

sophisticated analytical capability to be taken on the road 

to provide on-line sampling at customer’s sites, as well as 

in the TCUF. 

Process Control 

The TCPDU has extensive instrumentation for supervisory control and data acquisition. By continuously 

monitoring process streams at key locations, operators can assure that mass closure is obtained before 

and during analytical measurements. This state-ofthe-art process control system is interconnected 

with the analytical instruments’ control computers 

to create a single integrated database. Chemometric 

computer analysis of all collected data can be used 

for rapid process optimization. 

Other Components and Capabilities 

• Bench-scale unit operation for testing 500-g 

quantities of fluid-cracking-like catalyst 

•	Catalytic	steam-reforming	unit	operation

•	High-pressure	batch	and	continuous-flow	reactors	

•	Micro	activity	test	unit	

•	Solvent	vapor	cracking	unit	

•	Catalyst	synthesis	

•	Training	in	gasifier	fundamentals	and	operations.

Expertise/People 

Since the TCUF was commissioned in 1996, DOE 

and its partners have been demonstrating and 

evaluating the thermochemical conversion of 

renewable energy feedstocks. The NREL engineers 

and scientists who staff the TCUF have developed 

a diverse range of skills associated with converting 

feedstocks into valuable products, as well as the 

analytical techniques and instrumentation to characterize the process. This staff is available to plan 

and conduct experiments and interpret data using 

the latest statistical techniques. 

The Thermochemical Users Facility is equipped with sophisticated process monitoring and operation control systems. This control room simultaneously monitors all key 

operating parameters. 

Jim Yost Photography/PIX 12676 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOE Thermochemical Users Facility—A Proving Ground for Biomass Technology 

Produced for the 

Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable. 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585 

by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a DOE national laboratory 

A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America 

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy will mean a stronger 

economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy independence 

for America. Working with a wide array of state, community, industry, 

and university partners, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office 

of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in a diverse 

portfolio of energy technologies. 

Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any 

of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes 

any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or 

usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, 

or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. 

Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not 

necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or 

favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The 

views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state 

or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. 

DOE/GO-102003-1783 ■ revised November 2003 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at 

least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste. 

Jim Yost Photography/PIX 12666 

The Thermochemical Users Facility’s generator test cell allows 

analysis and direct comparison of emissions and operating 

characteristics for electrical generation by a gas turbine 

(foreground), an internal combustion generator (background), 

or a fuel cell, with biomass gas generated by different processes 

or from different feedstocks. 

Partnerships 

The TCUF can be configured to accommodate the testing and development 

of a client’s equipment or process to generate extensive performance 

data with a modest investment of time and money. The TCUF can be an 

important step in the commercialization process and can help to reduce 

the time from the lab to the marketplace for novel biomass technologies. 

Government agencies, universities, and a variety of industries have taken 

advantage of the flexibility offered by of the TCUF to evaluate and validate their process options. 

In 2002, a biological reactor was connected to a gasification slip stream 

to test the resiliency of the medium to form hydrogen gas. The slip stream 

from the TCPDU contains all of the chemical species of gasification that 

may harm biological processes. By using a real gas stream, a realistic result 

was obtained from the study. 

A partnership between NREL researchers and a team of industrial and 

academic organizations from Georgia used the TCUF to support and 

advance a pre-commercial demonstration plant to produce hydrogen from 

peanut shells. The pilot-scale fluidized bed catalytic steam reformer built 

for this project was installed in the TCUF to allow characterization and 

troubleshooting of the reactor. After 50 hours of testing and optimization, 

the reactor was removed from the facility and shipped to the industrial 

partner in Georgia. The reactor was installed at their facility and operated 

without the need for an extended shake down period. 

NBC researchers have also hit the road to evaluate unit operations for 

several 10-200 ton-per-day integrated gasification combined-cycle gasifiers before full-scale testing—Battelle in 1994 and again in 1999-2000, 

IGT in 1994-1995, and FERCO in 1998-2002. 

Working With Us 

The Thermochemical users facility was designed to assist industry and 

other researchers developing biomass conversion and utilization technologies. The facility is available for major trials of an entire process or new 

feedstock, for research and development of individual biomass conversion steps, or for cooperative basic research of your or NREL’s biomass 

conversion technologies. The DOE Thermochemical Users Facility and 

other National Bioenergy Center expertise, capabilities, facilities, and 

technologies can be made available to you through cooperative research 

and development agreements, work-for-others agreements, licenses, and 

other collaborative business arrangements. The National Bioenergy Center 

welcomes inquiries from companies and research institutions interested 

in using the TCUF process and analytical equipment to develop and commercialize technology for making valuable chemicals, fuels, and power 

from biomass. 

Please contact us about the research and 

development work you want to do: 

National Bioenergy Center 

Dr. Michael A. Pacheco, Director
 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
 

1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
 

www.nrel.gov/biomass 


www.eere.energy.gov/biomass.html
 

For specific details about TCUF, equipment 

or capabilities, contact: 

Matt Ratcliff
 

Phone: 303.384.6129
 

E-mail: matt_ratcliff@nrel.gov
 

Steve Phillips
 

Phone: 303.384.6235
 

E-mail: steve_phillips@nrel.gov
 

To inquire about using the TCUF or available 

business arrangements for doing so, contact: 

Dr. John Ashworth, NREL Partnership 


Development Team Leader
 

Phone: 303.384.6858
 

E-mail: john_ashworth@nrel.gov