Don J. Stevens

Production of Gasoline and Diesel from Biomass via Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking: A Design Case

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a processing pathway for converting biomass into infrastructure-compatible hydrocarbon biofuels. This design case investigates production of fast pyrolysis oil from biomass and the upgrading of that bio-oil as a means for generating infrastructure-ready renewable gasoline and diesel fuels. This study has been conducted using the same methodology and underlying basis assumptions as the previous design cases for ethanol. The overall concept and specific processing steps were selected because significant data on this approach exists in the public literature. The analysis evaluates technology that has been demonstrated at the laboratory scale or is in early stages of commercialization. The fast pyrolysis of biomass is already at an early stage of commercialization, while upgrading bio-oil to transportation fuels has only been demonstrated in the laboratory and at small engineering development scale. Advanced methods of pyrolysis, which are under development, are not evaluated in this study. These may be the subject of subsequent analysis by OBP. The plant is designed to use 2000 dry metric tons/day of hybrid poplar wood chips to produce 76 million gallons/year of gasoline and diesel. The processing steps include: 1.Feed drying and size reduction 2.Fast pyrolysis to a highly oxygenated liquid product 3.Hydrotreating of the fast pyrolysis oil to a stable hydrocarbon oil with less than 2% oxygen 4.Hydrocracking of the heavy portion of the stable hydrocarbon oil 5.Distillation of the hydrotreated and hydrocracked oil into gasoline and diesel fuel blendstocks 6. Hydrogen production to support the hydrotreater reactors. The “as received” feedstock to the pyrolysis plant will be “reactor ready.” This development will likely further decrease the cost of producing the fuel. An important sensitivity is the possibility of co-locating the plant with an existing refinery. In this case, the plant consists only of the first three steps: feed prep, fast pyrolysis, and upgrading. Stabilized, upgraded pyrolysis oil is transferred to the refinery for separation and finishing into motor fuels. The off-gas from the hydrotreaters is also transferred to the refinery, and in return the refinery provides lower-cost hydrogen for the hydrotreaters. This reduces the capital investment. Production costs near

Value-Added Chemicals from Animal Manure

2/gal (in 2007 dollars) and petroleum industry infrastructure-ready products make the production and upgrading of pyrolysis oil to hydrocarbon fuels an economically attractive source of renewable fuels. The study also identifies technical areas where additional research can potentially lead to further cost improvements.

Mixed Alcohol Synthesis Catalyst Screening

The objective of the project proposed by Washington State University (WSU) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was to develop technology for the utilization of animal manures as feedstocks to produce value-added products. These included medium-volume commodity chemicals such as glycols or diols and protein-based products such as chemicals or feed supplements. The research focused on two aspects of this approach including the analysis and treatment of the feedstock to produce intermediate chemical precursors and the aqueous phase conversion of these intermediates to chemicals and other value-added products.

Studies into using manure in a biorefinery concept

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are conducting research to investigate the feasibility of producing mixed alcohols from biomass-derived synthesis gas (syngas). PNNL is tasked with obtaining commercially available or preparing promising mixed-alcohol catalysts and screening them in a laboratory-scale reactor system. Commercially available catalysts and the most promising experimental catalysts are provided to NREL for testing using a slipstream from a pilot-scale biomass gasifier. From the standpoint of producing C2+ alcohols as the major product, it appears that the rhodium catalyst is the best choice in terms of both selectivity and space-time yield (STY). However, unless the rhodium catalyst can be improved to provide minimally acceptable STYs for commercial operation, mixed alcohol synthesis will involve significant production of other liquid coproducts. The modified Fischer-Tropsch catalyst shows the most promise for providing both an acceptable selectivity to C2+ alcohols and total liquid STY. However, further optimization of the Fischer-Tropsch catalysts to improve selectivity to higher alcohols is highly desired. Selection of a preferred catalyst will likely entail a decision on the preferred coproduct slate. No other catalysts tested appear amenable to the significant improvements needed for acceptable STYs.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to Liquid Fuels Synthesis, Volume 1: Availability of Feedstock and Technology

Animal manure is an underutilized biomass resource containing a large amount of organic carbon that is often wasted with the existing manure disposal practices. A research project funded by the US Department of Energy explored the feasibility of using manure via the sugar platform in a biorefinery, converting the carbon from fiber to biochemicals. The results showed that (1) fiber was the major component of manure dry material making up approx 50%, 40%, and 36% of the dry dairy, swine, and poultry manure material, respectively; within dairy manure, more than 56% of the dry matter was in particles larger than 1.680 mm; (2) in addition to being a carbon source, manure could provide a variety of nutrient for fungi T. reesei and A. phoenicis to produce cellulase; (3) the hemicellulose component in the manure fiber could be readily converted to sugar through acid hydrolysis; while concentrated acid decrystallization treatment was most effective in manure cellulose hydrolysis; (4) purification and separation was necessary for further chemical conversion of the manure hydrolysate to polyols through hydrogenation; and (5) the manure utilization strategy studied in this work is currently not profitable.

Analysis of the Effects of Compositional and Configurational Assumptions on Product Costs for the Thermochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Mixed Alcohols – FY 2007 Progress Report

This report investigated the potential of using municipal solid waste (MSW) to make synthesis gas (syngas) suitable for production of liquid fuels. Issues examined include: • MSW physical and chemical properties affecting its suitability as a gasifier feedstock and for liquid fuels synthesis • expected process scale required for favorable economics • the availability of MSW in quantities sufficient to meet process scale requirements • the state-of-the-art of MSW gasification technology.

Evaluation of Promoters for Rhodium-Based Catalysts for Mixed Alcohol Synthesis

The purpose of this study was to examine alternative biomass-to-ethanol conversion process assumptions and configuration options to determine their relative effects on overall process economics. A process-flow-sheet computer model was used to determine the heat and material balance for each configuration that was studied. The heat and material balance was then fed to a costing spreadsheet to determine the impact on the ethanol selling price. By examining a number of operational and configuration alternatives and comparing the results to the base flow sheet, alternatives having the greatest impact the performance and cost of the overall system were identified and used to make decisions on research priorities.

Optimization of Rhodium-Based Catalysts for Mixed Alcohol Synthesis -- 2009 Progress Report

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are conducting research to investigate the feasibility of producing mixed alcohols from biomass-derived synthesis gas (syngas). PNNL is tasked with obtaining commercially-available catalysts or preparing promising mixed-alcohol catalysts and screening them in a laboratory-scale reactor system. Commercially-available catalysts and the most promising experimental catalysts are provided to NREL for testing using a slipstream from a pilot-scale biomass gasifier. A total of 28 tests were conducted to evaluate 22 different promoters as well as an unpromoted catalyst. The following general trends were observed for the test results: • The highest carbon selectivity to C2+ oxygenates occurred at the lowest reaction temperatures and accompanying lowest space time yields (STYs). • The lowest carbon selectivity to C2+ oxygenates occurred at the highest reaction temperatures because of high carbon conversion to hydrocarbons. • The highest C2+-oxygenate STYs occurred between 300°C and 325°C, with the gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) adjusted when necessary to maintain carbon conversion ranges between ~ 30 and 40 percent. Higher carbon selectivity to hydrocarbons at higher temperatures resulted in lower C2+-oxygenate STYs. • When catalysts were heated to between 300°C and 325°C the catalysts showed evidence of some deactivation with respect to C2+ oxygenate productivity, accompanied by reduced chain growth for the hydrocarbon products. The degree of deactivation and the temperature at which it occurred varied between the different catalysts tested. Of all of the catalysts evaluated, the Li-promoted catalysts had the highest carbon selectivity to C2+ oxygenates (47 percent) under the conditions at which the maximum C2+-oxygenate STYs were obtained.

Ethanol synthesis from syngas over Rh-based/SiO2 catalysts: A combined experimental and theoretical modeling study

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been conducting research for the United States Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy, Biomass Program to investigate the feasibility of producing mixed alcohols from biomass-derived synthesis gas (syngas). This research has involved the screening of potential catalysts, and optimization of the more promising ones, using laboratory scale reactors. During 2009, the main goal of the testing program focused on optimizing selected supported catalysts containing rhodium (Rh) and manganese (Mn). Optimization involved examining different total concentrations and atomic ratios of Rh and Mn as well as that of the more promising promoters (Ir and Li) identified in the earlier screening studies. Evaluation of catalyst performance focused on attaining improvements with respect to the space-time-yield and converted carbon selectivity to C2+ oxygenates, with additional consideration given to the fraction of the oxygenates that were C2+ alcohols.