Transportation fuels and biorefinery

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Module 3c

Transportation fuels and biorefineries

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Training course on Renewable Energy

Outline

1. Resources

2. Biomass based industries

3. Biorefinery definition

4. Biorefinery opportunities

5. From biomass sugars to residues

6. Fast pyrolysis’ possible role

8. Conclusions

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Resources

Origin: forestry, energy crops, agriculture, plantations

Availability: about the current crude oil production (100EJ)

Use: 12 % of the world energy consumption

(but mainly traditional!)

Barriers: transport, bio-diversity / landscape, food

competition, minerals and water, political issues,

public acceptance, costs

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Biomass-based industries

Timber / Pulp and paper

Food / Pharmaceutics

Heat and power (4 % of the world energy consumption)

Sugar based bio-chemicals (corn, potato, soybean,wheat)

Bio-ethanol from sugar and starch

Bio-diesel from plant oils (pressing)

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Biomass-refinery definition

First Google hits

Cluster of biobased industries producing chemicals,fuels, power, products, and materials (Iowa StateUniversity)

A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomassconversion processes and equipment to produce fuels,power, and value added chemicals from biomass. Thebiorefinery concept is analogous to today's petroleumrefinery, which produce multiple fuels and productsfrom petroleum. (Wikipedia)

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Biomass-refinery opportunities

Timber / pulp and paper:– residue combustion and gasification, already implemented

Food / Pharmaceutics:– fully developed bio-refineries; residues maybe available

Sugar / starch chemicals:– fully developed bio-refineries; residues maybe available

Bio-ethanol / Bio-diesel:– lignin residues / glycerol

Classic crude oil refinery:– co-feeding opportunity for bio-liquids

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Current bio-ethanol process

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Fuel from food crops?

Drawbacks:– ethical (competition with food)– economical (food part of the plant has the highest value– CO2 reduction effect from the entire energy Balance is limited– huge quantities of food crops required

Second generation bio-fuels must be derived frombiomass residues instead of food crops

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US view of the bio-ethanol refinery

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From biomass sugars to biomassresidues

Challenge: produce energy and chemicals frombiomass residues (lignocellulosic materials)

Difficulty: residues cannot be de-polymerized to asingle monomer building block for chemicals and fuels

Solution 1: complete thermal cracking to bio-syngas asa basis for fuels and chemicals production

Solution 2: partial thermal decomposition to “fastpyrolysis oil” and by-products

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The potential role of fast pyrolysis

Part of a sugars-based bio-refinery based on residuepyrolysis for fuel and, perhaps, products

Incorporation into a gasification and chemical/fuelsynthesis plant

Stand-alone facilities with distributed production andcentralized processing and refining, or true stand-alonewith or without fractionation and product processing

Part of a petroleum refinery with distributed productionand centralized processing

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Fast pyrolysis in a sugars based refinery

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Fast pyrolysis in a syngas based refinery

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Fast pyrolysis: stand-alone refinery

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Fast pyrolysis: stand-alone refinery

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Fast pyrolysis: simple refinery examples

separate phenolics for resins leaving an aqueousfraction and reform aqueous fraction for hydrogen asproduct for hydrogenation (NREL)

separate liquid smoke and other specialties and burnorganic residues as fuel (Red Arrow, Broste, Quest)

separate liquid smoke and other specialties and useresidual pyrolignitic fraction for wood preservatives

byproducts of fast pyrolysis (gas and char) are used forbiomass feedstock drying which is essential for theproduction of a high quality bio-oil

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Fast pyrolysis as part ofa petroleum refinery

BIOCOUP - “Co-processing of upgraded bio-liquids instandard refinery units” an EC supported Project

The aim is to develop a chain of process steps,allowing liquefied biomass feedstock to be co-fed to aconventional oil refinery

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Another biorefinery appraoch

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Transport fuels from biomass

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Hydrocarbon transport fuels

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R&D needs

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Conclusions

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US have their own biorefinery strategy (bioethanolbased)

Second generation processes must be developed(non-food

Chemicals from biomass can be produced fromsugars/starch, bio-syngas or fast-pyrolysis products

Biomass based industries often are fully developed biorefineries (AVEBE, Unilever, etc. )

Numerous opportunities exist for fast pyrolyis-oilchemicals, but they all still need to be developed

Conclusions

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Conclusions

Two decades of science and technology developmenthave shown fast pyrolysis oil to be an attractiveintermediate bio-fuel and source of chemicals

The production technology is mature. BTG and Gentingare demonstrating EFB pyrolysis at a scale of 10 MWth(2 tons/hr).

Gasification of 8 tons bio-oil and co-combustion of 15tons bio-oil has been demonstrated.

The investment costs are estimated at 2.5 million €.Bio-oil production costs are approximately 100 €/ton or6 €/GJ.

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Conclusions

Pyrolysis and gasification plants are limited in size bylocal biomass availability

Gasification with transport fuel synthesis is costly dueto small plants sizes

Bio-oil gasification for transport fuel synthesis has alower cost than biomass gasification and gives acleaner syngas product because much larger plantsizes are possible

Bio-oil has been successfully used in diesel enginesand gas turbines and there are a variety ofopportunities for direct upgrading to transport fuel

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

TERIMAH KASIH

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Transportation fuels and biorefinery