Substainable Production of Biofuels From Biomass

TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY

TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY

Research Project

Bio refineries for sustainable production of fuels

Research Team

Seam Tesfom : g7804627

Bikesh Chaurasiya : J9098776

Supervisor

Dr Pattanathu K.S.M. Rahman

Programme Leader (MSc Biotechnology)

Submission Date: 5/10/2012

Research Project

1 | T E E S S I D E U N I V E R S I T Y

Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2

History ................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Energy Consumption and Need ...................................................................................................................................... 2

Biomass ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Bio-refineries and different process ............................................................................................................................... 3

I. Fermentation .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

II. Trans-esterification ................................................................................................................................................. 3

III. Gasification ......................................................................................................................................................... 4

IV. Fisher-Tropsch synthesis ..................................................................................................................................... 4

V. Hydrogenation process ........................................................................................................................................... 4

VI. Fast pyrolysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Fast Pyrolysis ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Process principles ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

Fast pyrolysis reactor ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

By- Product ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Pyrolysis liquid – Bio-oil ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Environmental, health and safety................................................................................................................................... 6

Process Improvement and Bio-oil upgrading ..................................................................................................................... 6

Catalytic process ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

Natural ash in biomass................................................................................................................................................ 6

Upgrading to bio fuel .................................................................................................................................................. 6

Physical process .............................................................................................................................................................. 7

Filtration...................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Addition of solvent ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

Chemical upgrading ........................................................................................................................................................ 7

Mild cracking ............................................................................................................................................................... 7

Aqueous phase processing ......................................................................................................................................... 7

Bio-oil application ............................................................................................................................................................... 7

Bio-refinery ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Economic and cost evaluation ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Research Project


Summary The purpose for this research is to reviews the current refuel

valorisation, and also looking ahead what’s the future significance

of bio-refinery technology. Bio refinery is facility which integrates

conversion equipment and process to produce power, fuel and

various chemicals from biomass. The bio-refinery technology

combines all the necessary bio-renewable raw material with

intermediate chemicals and concerts to final product. Depending

on the type of product required, different technologies and

biomass are used. For example production of char and bio-oil by

pyrolysis, gaseous fuels from biomass, hydrothermal liquefaction

from biomass

On this report a focus on fast pyrolysis technologies has been

reviewed. Fast pyrolysis process biomasses produce a BIO-OIL or

liquid production. The technology for fast pyrolysis is emphasised,

explaining all major reaction. The primary liquid product is

specified by customer or referring many properties which can be

beneficial. A suitable biomass has being chosen, wood, in which

can produce high efficiency. The fast pyrolysis technology and bio-

mass properties have caused an increasingly extensive research to

be undertaken to improve the process for high yield. The process

upgrading is carried out using chemical, physical and catalytic

method. The catalytic upgrading one is increasing diverse methods

and catalyst and particular to complexity and sophistication of

multi-functional systems. Also it’s useful to see other companies’

involvement in this technology area and increase take-up by

evolving upgrading process.

The cost and environmental aspect for this process has being

researched and evaluated. Fast pyrolysis has no effect

environment harmless since it self-sufficient energy. Cost

evaluation is assessed as well, can be said economical viable

considering the high yield and efficient. (Demirbas, 2011)

Introduction

History The history of the process of conversion of biomass to useful

energy or fuels has been started from early 1860, when the

German Nikolaus August Otto invented an Otto engine which

works by using ethanol as a fuel. Likewise, in 20th century Rudolf

Diesel invented the diesel engine which uses peanut oil and Henry

Ford designed his Model T car which operates on ethanol derived

from hemp. When the crude oil was started exploring in large scale

in 1930s, the bio fuel production started to decline and after that it

was twice when bio fuels production was enhanced due to the

crisis of oil in rest of the last century which was because of the

circumstances .the first circumstance was In world war 2,there was

the shortage of fuels and in order to replace this ,gasoline along

with alcohol (derived from potato )was used in Germany and

gasoline along with alcohol( derived from grain ) was used in Great

Britain and the second incident was in 1970s where because of the

high price of the oil the scientist and the government were forced

to produce the bio fuels . (A.V. Bridgwater a, 30 (1999) )

Along with the development of bio-refineries in many European

countries in these last decades, the concern of its biological and

climatic effect were arising in the public agendas globally which

slowly transformed in to regional and national legislation in the

beginning of the 21st century. For instance, in 2003 EU brought bio

fuel directive, which set a reference value of 5.75% for each market

share of bio fuels in 2010. These legislations and developments are

expected to enhance the second generation bio-refineries and it is

estimated that within 5 to 10 years bio fuels (cellulosic) will be

available on large scale on fully commercial basis. (Ghatak∗, (2011))

Energy Consumption and Need The need of energy is increasing continuously, because of increases

in industrialization and population. The growth of world’s energy

demand raises urgent problems. The larger part of petroleum and

natural gas reserves is located within a small group of countries.

For example, the Middle East countries have 63% of the global

reserves and are the dominant supplier of petroleum. This energy

system is unsustainable because of equity issues as well as

environmental, economic, and geopolitical concerns that have far

reaching implications. Interestingly, the renewable energy

resources are more evenly distributed than fossil or nuclear

resources. Also the energy flows from renewable resources are

more than three orders of magnitude higher than current global

energy need. Now a day’s energy processing is not sustainable due

equity issue as well as economic, environmental and geo-political

issues; which have implication for in future generation. Bio fuel

refinery using biomass is the most significant component to

mitigate greenhouse gas emission and also substitute of fossil fuels.

As its obvious renewable energy is a best ways to achieve high

efficient and sustainable development. (Demirbas, 2011)

Biomass There are various types of biological feedstock though there are no

feed which can be a clear alternative to fossil based products.

There are many feedstock’s available in the environment each with

its advantage and disadvantage. There are mainly two categories

which have been found.

First generation products:-these products are generally produced

from the edible biomass such as oily and starch rich plants.

Research Project


Second generation products:-these products are generally

obtained from the residual non-food parts of the crops or many

other non-edible food sources. For e.g.- algae and perennial

grasses which have high potential of replacing fossil based

products.

Starch/sugar crops:-it is the most common type of bio refinery

process which uses sugar and starch crops. The sugars are mainly

produce from the plants like sugar beet, sugar cane and sweet

sorghum which contain very large amount of saccharose. These

saccharose is easily extracted from the plants and fermented to get

bio based chemicals or ethanol.

The plants like corn ,cassava and wheat which are starch containing

plants can be simply hydrolysed and a solution of sugar can be

produced .these process also helps in producing animal feed rich in

energy and protein (eg-DDGS,distillers dried grains with soluble )

Lignocelluloses biomass:-these are the feedstock which has high

capacity of replacing fossil fuel .lignocelluloses refers to non-edible

plant material consisting of lignin ,cellulose and hemi-cellulose .the

and hemi-cellulose and lignin are present on the outer surface of

the cellulose which are very rigid and its very energy intensive

process in breaking the covalent bonds of the hemicelluloses. The

sources of lignocelluloses biomass are mainly agricultural waste

(corn Stover and straw, forestry waste (wood chips), municipal

waste and also the crops like switch grass and mis-canthus which

are short rotation polar plants. (Donald S. Scott a, 1999)

Vegetable oil:-there are mainly two categories of the feed oil PPO

(pure plant oil) and WVO (waste vegetable oil).these feedstock are

mainly converted by the process of trans esterification to biodiesel.

The pure plant oil is mainly obtained from palm; rapeseed, soybean

and sunflower seeds and animal’s fat and cooking oil are the

example of waste vegetable oil.

The sustainable production of biodiesel from the feedstock of

vegetable oil has always been economical challenge since the

Refinement process of WVO is high cost effective process. Thus,

this feedstock can be taken as a supplement to other types of

energy source but cannot be considered as a primary source.

Jatropha oil:-The jatropha oil can be converted in to biodiesel

through the process of transesterificaton .the jatropa curcas tree

are mainly found in the south and Central America, these trees

generally produces 27-40%of the oil which is non-edible. The

research done on the effect to the environment shows positive

result on the environment and greenhouse gas emission (GHG) but

still the exact nature of its cultivation and its environmental effects

are unknown which make this plant difficult to determine its future

as an alternative form of fuel. These plants are mainly cultivated in

the degraded and wasteland ground. (Cuevas A, 1995)

Micro-algae:-it is a large group of heterotrophic and unicellular

phototropic organisms. In recent years, it is the most attracted

forms of renewable source .these algae contains lipids which is

present in the form of triacylglycerol’s which by the process of

trans-esterification can be converted to biodiesel and bio

ethanol(the remaining carbohydrates by the process of

fermentation gets converted to bio ethanol) (CzernikS, 2004)

There are many advantage of using micro algae instead of any

other source of second generation feedstock since they are found

to produce 10 to 100 times more oil per acre than any other

sources and some algae consist of 85%of the dry weight of algae

biomass which is approximately 20 times than that of any other

second generation source. Moreover, they don’t need to compete

with arable lands and they are safe and biodegradable, they are

also quick to cultivate, highly productive and only requires sunlight,

water and CO2 for their growth.

Bio-refineries and different process On the basis of type of the desired product different feedstock are

used in bio refineries process which converts the raw biomass in

the required output form. The most commonly used process are

fermentation, gasification and trans-esterification.

I. Fermentation Fermentation of starch/sugar crops:-the plants containing

starch or sugar crops are initially pre-treated to form a

sugar solution; these plants are generally hydrolysed

enzymatically to form a sugar solution. This process is

followed by fermentation by the help of microbial

organisms to produce bio ethanol sugarcane can directly be

fermented to produce ethanol. (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels

from continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: A pilot plant

study, 100 (2009))

Fermentation of lignocelluloses biomass:-in this process,

the cellulose and hemicelluloses is separated by non-

fermentable lignin. lignin are strongly covalent bonded

,thus this bond is broken mechanically and is followed by

alkali ,acids or steam .after the complete combustion of

lignin and delivering the energy ,the cellulose and

hemicelluloses are hydrolysed enzymatically to produce

the solutions of sugars which is again followed by the

process of fermentation. (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels from

continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: A pilot plant study,

100 (2009) )

II. Trans-esterification It is a standard process through which the triglycerides (obtained

from the plant or algal oil) are reacted with methanol in the

presence of catalyst (acid and alkali catalyst) to produce FAME

(fatty acid methyl esters) and glycerol.

Research Project


The main disadvantage of using triglycerides as the replacement of

diesel is its low volatility, high viscosity and polyunsaturated

character. Thus trans-esterification process reduces the viscosity of

the triglycerides and improves the physical characteristic of the

triglycerides and thus it is considered as the most common type of

biodiesel used today.

III. Gasification It is thermal decomposition process which can be achieved by the

presence of limited amount of oxygen .this process generally refers

to the breaking down of carbonaceous materials into their

synthesis gas compounds, which is known as syngas(Mainly H2

andCO2). The resultant syngas then converts in required useful

output by the process of partial oxidation and by Fisher Tropsch

reaction. (* M. F., 86 (2009) )

IV. Fisher-Tropsch synthesis It is the process which consists and involves catalytic conversion of

the syngas formed to convert it into liquid hydrocarbon (ranging

from C1 to C50).in this process, different selective distribution of

product is obtained with controlling of the process pressure,

temperature and the type of the catalyst used in the process.

This process is widely used but there are chances of shortages of

the catalyst if the production is in large amount scale. This process

is mainly used in production of the synthetic fuel from fossil fuels

and commercial generation of electricity. (CzernikS, 2004)

V. Hydrogenation process This process is considered as the more efficient process of

producing synthetic bio fuel .this process is mainly done by

hydrothermal treatment of bio-oils which is produced from

jatropha, algae or camelina to produce HJR (hydro treated

renewable jet fuels) at high or medium temperature to

hydrocarbon fuels (HJR).these obtained bio fuels have higher

energy content and better combustion performance as Fisher

Tropsch fuels.

In addition, it has got low temperature stability to produces better

jet engine fuel .In December 2009; Air New Zealand tested first

flight aviation with bio fuel obtained from jatropha oil. (Asri Gani,

2006)

VI. Fast pyrolysis It is the process through which there is the thermal decomposition

of biomass (it can be done by hydrogenation or via gasification) to

a liquid bio-oil which contains 35-40% oxygen. This process is still in

its developing stage but is assumed to reduce the costs of

gasification process in which the feed is directly passed to the

gasifier. In this process, the product produced differs on the basis

of difference in the amount of temperature and vapour pressure

applied to the process .for instance, charcoal is formed if lower

amount of temperature and large vapour residence time is

provided to the process. Similarly, at high temperature and longer

residence time the product formed is in the form of gas and if

moderate or medium temperature is supplied along with short

residence time then the product formed is liquid.

Fast pyrolysis is process of interest for the production of liquid as it

is can be easily transported and stored and is also used in the form

of energy and chemicals .

A number of processes are used to convert biomass fuel to more

valuable energy. Process type includes thermal, biological and

physical or mechanical. While biological processing is often very

selective and produces fewer products in high yield by using

biological catalyst. Thermal conversion usually gives complex and

often multiple products in a very short time, inorganic catalyst

often added to improve product quality. Pyrolysis have been

applied for many thousands years for charcoal production,

however over the last 30 years fast pyrolysis at a moderate

temperature around 500 0C within a very short reaction times of up

2 second which has being taken to high consideration interest. This

is because the technology process can gives a very high yield up to

75wt%, useful for various applications. (Daniel J. Hayes a, 145

(2009) )

The fig1 below summarise the market production from three main

thermal processes available for converting biomass to more

valuable form of energy-pyrolysis, combustion and gasification.

This research is focused on emerging an advanced technology on

fast pyrolysis both as for production of integrated liquid that can be

used as fuel and as well as intermediate pre-treatment step to

convert to biomass higher energy content such as heat, bio fuel,

power and chemicals. Fast pyrolysis technology is widely expected

to give a considerable bio-oil in short period of time of versatility,

environmental acceptability and improved efficient.

Figure 1 (Bridgwater, 2011)

Fast Pyrolysis Pyrolysis process is a thermal decomposition which occurs in the

absence of oxygen. Longer vapour residence time and low

Research Project


temperature process will favour production of charcoal. In contrast

high temperature and longer residence time will increase

conversion of biomass to gas and moderate temperature within

short vapour residence time is optimum for production of liquids.

There are three product are always produced, however the

proportion varied depending on consumer specification, which can

be adjusted by wide range process parameter. Figure 2 shows the

product distribution obtained from various pyrolysis modes,

showing the achievement by changing the process. Fast pyrolysis

process for liquid production is currently particular interest as the

liquid can be transported and stored, and applied for energy use,

chemicals and fuels.


Process principles Fast pyrolysis biomass decomposes at fast rate in order to generate

vapour and aerosols charcoal and gas. After cooling and

condensation, a homogenous dark-brown liquid is formed in which

it has half of the heating value of conversional fuel oil. A high yield

and efficiency of liquid is obtained from a biomass with low ash

because it reduce the gas flow rate and also could possibly mix with

liquid give less quality. Feature for fast pyrolysis for liquid

production are;

Very high heat transfer and heating rate at biomass particle

interface requires the biomass particle to be finely

grounded, typically between ranges of 2-3mm,

The temperature (500oC) has to be carefully controlled to

increase the yield of biomass,

A very short vapour residence time typically less than 2 sec,

to reduce secondary reaction,

Rapid char removal to reduce cracking of vapour

Rapid cooling of vapour to produce bio-oil product

The main end product is bio-oil, obtained in yield about 75wt % on

dry basis. Both the product char and gas can be used to in process

to provide all heat required so there are no waste streams except

ash and flue gases. The liquid depends on type of biomass, vapour

residence time, temperature, char separation and biomass ash

content. Any type form of biomass can be used for fast pyrolysis.

Most work has being carried out of wood, one because of its

consistency and comparability between test over 100 various

biomass laboratories. Second reason is that fact that wood are

cheap founded at low cost. (Bridgwater, 2011)

Fast pyrolysis reactor The heart of fast pyrolysis is the reactor, it cover about 10-15% of the total cost. In recent years development and research has being focused on testing and developing various reactor configuration on different feed stock. Another attention focus has being made on control and improvement on liquid quality and collection system. The rest of rest of fast pyrolysis process contained on biomass reception, storage and handling, grinding, biomass drying and product collection, In recent research activity on fixed bed increased to give high liquid yield, however more likely to give a phase separation liquid. The phase separated liquid product in some application might be the desired product where fraction is required. It applied this separation is much preferred rather than depending on a poor design and process control. (Bridgwater, 2011)


By- Product Gas and char are by-products; normally they contain around 5 and

25% of the energy materials respectively. The process requires

about 15% of the in energy in feed, of the by-products. The char

by itself has enough (self-sufficient) energy to provide heat for the

system. Heat can deliver by burning char in orthodox reaction

design system, which makes the energy process self-sustainable. In

more advanced configuration could gasify the char to LHV gas and

the burn the produced gas to more effectively to provide heat with

advantage that alkali metals in the char can be controlled better.

The wasted heat from combustion the chars and by-product gas

can be used for feed drying and in large installation used for export

and generation power.

A significance of fast pyrolysis is that well designed and well-run

process should not produce any emission apart from clean flue gas

which is CO2 and water, although they will have to meet local

standard emission regulation required.

Research Project


Pyrolysis liquid – Bio-oil Bio-oil is a dark brown and approximate to biomass in elemental

composition. It consists of a complex mixture of oxygenated

hydrocarbons with an appreciable proportion of water content

from both original moisture and reaction product. Small amount of

solid char might be present. Typical organic yields from various

feedstocks’ and their variation of different temperature are shown

in fig below. Similarly result is obtained for majority of biomass

feedstock, although the maximum l yields occurs at range of 480-

5200C depending on feedstock. Wood for example tends to give a

maximum liquid yield of around 70-75% on dry feed basis at lower

end of this temperature range. (CzernikS, 2004)

The liquid is formed by a rapid quenching, cooling, and thus

freezing the intermediate product of flash degradation of cellulose,

hemicelluloses and lignin. The liquid thus contain many reactive

species, in which it contributes to its usual attributes. Bio-oil can be

considered a micro-emulsion which contains a phase in aqueous

solution of hemicelluloses e decomposition product. These will

provide stability for the discontinuation phase of pyrolytic lignin

macro-molecule through mechanism like hydrogen bonding.

Figure 4 Organic yield from various feed stocks (Bridgwater, 2011)

Environmental, health and safety Whilst bio-oil has become more widely recognised and available,

attention has being increased on aspect of environment, health

and safety. A study was accomplished in 2005 to assess the eco-

toxicity and toxicity of 21 bio-oils from commercial producers of

bio-oil around the world in a screening study along with a complete

assessment of bio-oil representative. The study includes a

comprehensive analysis, evaluation of transportation requirement

as update of previews study and bio-degrability assessment. The

result obtained are complex and require more depth details

analysis however the overall conclusion is that bio-oil offers no

significant environment, health and safety risks. (Trebbi G, 1997)

Process Improvement and Bio-oil upgrading

Bio-oil can be upgraded though a number of ways – catalytically,

physically and chemically. A more significant features and up to

dated development are reviewed here. A summary of main

methodology for upgrading are shown in fig below.

Figure 5: Over view of Bio fuel upgrading system (Bridgwater, 2011)

Catalytic process

Natural ash in biomass

Biomass normally contain a very active catalytic within the

structure. There are alkali metals that produce ash and which

required in for nutrient transfer and growth of biomass. Potassium

is most active followed by sodium. These act is operated by making

secondary cracking of vapours and reducing the liquid yield and

quality. Depending on the concentration level the effect can be

more severe than char cracking. (Trebbi G, 1997)

Upgrading to bio fuel

Process of upgrading bio-oil to a conventional transport fuel such

as gasoline, methane, LPG, kerosene and diesel requires total de

oxygenation and conventional refining. These can be achieved

either by integrated catalytic pyrolysis or by decoupled operation

summarised below. There is also a great interest in partial

upgrading to a product that is compatible with refinery streams so

that to take benefit of experience and economic scale in

conventional refinery. Integration into refineries by upgrading has

being reviewed on the following process;

Hydro treating

Esterification and related process

Catalytic vapour process

Gasification to syngas followed by synthesis to alcohol or

hydrocarbon.

Research Project


Physical process The most crucial properties that may affect bio-oil fuel quality are

in compatibility with the conventional fuels from high oxygen

content of the bio-oil, high viscosity, high solid and chemical

instability.

Filtration

Filtration on hot-vapour can reduce the ash content of the oil less

than 0.01% and alkali content to less than 10ppm, it’s being

reported that much lower biomass oils produced using cyclones

system only. This will give a higher quality product with lower char,

however char is catalytically active and potentially cracks vapours,

reduce yields to 20% and decrease the average molecular weight of

the liquid product. Information on the operation and performance

of hot vapour filters are very limited however, they can be

specified and perform similar to hot gas filter in gasification

process. (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels from continuous fast pyrolysis of

soybean oil: A pilot plant study, 100 (2009) )

Addition of solvent

Polar solvent has being applied from long time to homogenise and

reduce the viscosity of biomass oils. Adding a solvent, particularly

methanol, proved a significant effect on the oil sustainability and

stability. Diebold and Crernik found that the rate of viscosity

increase for oil with 10 wt. % of methanol was almost twenty times

less than for oil without additives. (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels from

continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: A pilot plant study, 100

(2009) )

Chemical upgrading Chemical upgrading includes non-physical methods and those

catalytic process not covered in hydro treating and zeolite related

processes. (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels from continuous fast pyrolysis

of soybean oil: A pilot plant study, 100 (2009) )

Mild cracking

A mild cracking is a catalytic based which only address the cellulose

and hemicelluloses derived products and aim to reduce formation

of gas and coke. Crofcheck at University of Kentucky has explored

ZnO (V.R. Wiggers a, Biofuels from continuous fast pyrolysis of

soybean oil: A pilot plant study, 100 (2009) ) and freshly calcined

Zn/Al and Mg/Al layer double hydroxide to upgrade a synthetic bio-

oil based on earlier work in Finland.

Aqueous phase processing

This is a relatively new approach that was first proposed by

Dumesic et al. who produced hydrogen and alkane from aqueous

solution of oxygenated hydrocarbon through aqueous phase

reforming and dehydration. A large amount of bio-oil is soluble

with water and the compounds present in its aqueous fraction are

significantly oxygenated hydrocarbon. (Demirbas, 2011)

Bio-oil application Bio-oil can be replace for diesel and fuel in various application such

as; furnace, boiler, turbine and engine for use of electricity. A

review has being made in 2004 in many aspects, however not much

change has done since then. The most significant change made

since then is:

A great consideration for fast pyrolysis to be a pre-

treatment method, which is bio-oil, can be used effectively

as energy carrier.

An increase in awareness in potential in fast pyrolysis and

bio-oil to offer valuable process route to various range of

product and also contribute to a concept of bio refinery

development.

A considerable great interest in improving and upgrading

bio-oil sufficiently for the use of power, heat and various

applications.

Bio-refinery The majority of chemicals are produced from petroleum feed

stocks. Only small percentage of the total oil production, about 5%,

is used in chemical manufacture. However the value of these

chemicals produces a high contribution to energy and fuel

products. There is a clear economic advantage in building a similar

flexibility into biofuel market by taking of the biomass production

to manufacture chemicals. In fact, this concept quite advantageous

in context of biomass because it is chemically more heterogeneous

than crude oil and conversion of fuel, particularly hydrocarbons, is

not cost effective. Figure below shows how fast pyrolysis is at the

heart of bio refinery.

The main key feature of bio refinery is co-production of fuels,

energy and chemicals. There is a possibility of gasifying biomass to

make syngas, which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon

monoxide, alcohols and other chemicals. However this route is cost

and energy intensive. Many of the energy of biomass are lost in

processing so electric generation may be most efficient use of

biomass in this case.

Research Project


Figure 6 Bio-refinery based on fast pyrolysis (Bridgwater, 2011)

Economic and cost evaluation The total installed capital cost for fast pyrolysis process starting from preparing and drying feed material to liquid bio-oil product in storage tank is given by the following formula equation;

Fast pyrolysis capital cost for plant in million euros =

2011 = 6.98 x (biomass feed rate dry t h_1)0.67

The total production cost for bio-oil is obtained using the following equation:

Production cost in euros: t-1 bio-oil 2011 =1.1 x [(B) + (H x 16, 935 x F-

0.33)] Y-1

B = Biomass cost € dry t_1,

H = Capital and capital related charges, default value = 0.18

F = Biomass feed rate dry t y_1,

Y = Fractional bio-oil yield, wt., default value = 0.75 for Wood, 0.60 for grasses. The effect of scale for four dry basi feed costs from 0 to 80.Euros t_1 is shown in fig below


Fast pyrolysis technologies for the production of liquid fuel have

been successfully demonstrated on a small scale and also in several

demonstration and commercial plants are in operation, but they

are still relatively expensive compared with fossil-based energy,and

thus face economic and other non- technical barriers when trying

to penetrate the energy market. (Bridgwater, 2011)

Conclusion The bio-oil liquid produced through fast pyrolysis has a

considerable advantage of being transportable and storable, as

well as having a potential to provide and supply various valuable

chemicals. So therefore in these respect it provide a unique

advantage. Never the less it’s quite disappointing to see lesson of

the previews either not considered or forgotten in rush to obtain a

new research underway. Fast pyrolysis has some basic requirement

such as: type of biomass, design of rector in order to produce a

good yield, quality and environmental friendly. The potential of

bio-oil is increasingly being identified, along with dramatic growth

in research into improving bio-oil properties in particular for a

significant application for biofuel production. Some of the most

interesting and potential significant research is on more complex

and sophisticated catalytic process system and these will require a

larger scale development to improve economic viability and

feasibility.

Bio refineries provide a considerable scope for optimisation of fast

pyrolysis based product and process. These will require

improvement and development of component so that to optimise

an integrated system. It will necessary require a supply of heat and

power but since the fast pyrolysis is a self-sufficient energy, will

makes more preferable. There is an exciting future for both bio-oil

upgrading and fast pyrolysis as long as the focus is on delivering a

good quality and valuable product.

Research Project


Bibliography

1. *, A. D. (50 (2009)). Biorefineries: Current activities and

future developments. Energy Conversion and

Management, 2782–2801.

2. *, M. F. ( 86 (2009) ). Biorefineries for biofuel upgrading: A

critical review. Applied Energy, S151–S161.

3. A.V. Bridgwater a, *. D. ( 30 (1999) ). An overview of fast

pyrolysis of biomass. Organic Geochemistry, 1479±1493.

4. Anestis Vlysidis, M. B. ( 36 (2011) ). A techno-economic

analysis of biodiesel biorefineries: Assessment of

integrated. Energy, 4671-4683.

5. Asri Gani, I. N. (2006). Effect of cellulose and lignin content

on pyrolysis.

6. Bridgwater, A. (2011). Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass

and product upgrading. Biomass and Biorefinery, 1-27.

7. Cuevas A, R. S. (1995). Power production of biomass II.

8. CzernikS, B. A. (2004). Overview of application of biomass

fast pyroysis oil. Energy fuels, 8-590.

9. Daniel J. Hayes a, b. (145 (2009) ). An examination of

biorefining processes, catalysts and challenges. Catalysis

Today, 138–151.

10. Demirbas, A. (2011). Bio-refinery : current activities and

futur develpment. Energy conversion and managment,

2782.

11. Donald S. Scott a, *. P. (1999). A second look at fast

pyrolysis of. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 23-

37.

12. Ghatak∗, H. R. (15 (2011) ). Renewable and Sustainable

Energy Reviews. Biorefineries from the perspective of

sustainability: Feedstocks, products,, 4042– 4052.

13. H., H. (2009). Gasification:technology overview. Thermal

biomass conversion.

14. (JULY 2006). UK ENERGY IN BRIEF .

15. R., F. A. (2010). Ikerlan-IK4 fast pyrolysis pilot plant. Bio-oil

and charproduction from biomass,pyNe news letter.

16. Richard French, S. C. ( 91 (2010) ). Catalytic pyrolysis of

biomass for biofuels production. Fuel Processing

Technology, 25–32.

17. Scott Ds, P. J. (1985). The flash pyrolysis of aspen popular

wood. Eng Chem process Dev, 666-74.

18. Trebbi G, R. C. (1997). Plan for the production and

utilisation of bio-oil from biomass fast pyrolysis. Bridgwater

AV, 87-378.

19. V.R. Wiggers a, H. M. ( 100 (2009)). Biofuels from

continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: A pilot plant study.

Bioresource Technology, 6570–6577.

20. V.R. Wiggers a, H. M. (100 (2009) ). Biofuels from

continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: A pilot plant study.

Bioresource Technology , 650–657.

Documents

Substainable Production of Biofuels From Biomass