Flash methanolysis of wood for the production of fuels and chemicals

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6825642

Steinberg, M; Fallon, P T; Sundaram, M S

Biomass in the form of less than 1000 micron oven dried fir wood particles was flash pyrolyzed in the presence of methane (methanolysis) in a downflow 1 in. I.D. tubular reactor at pressures of 20 to 200 psi and temperatures between 800/sup 0/ and 1050/sup 0/C. The major products were benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), a heavy oily liquid (greater than or equal to C/sub 9/), ethylene and carbon monoxide. As much as 12% of the available carbon in the wood was converted to BTX, 21% to ethylene and 48% to carbon monoxide at 50 psi and 1000/sup 0/C. The maximum heavier oil yield of 11% was observed at 50 psi and 800/sup 0/C. Wood particle residence times for all experiments were calculated to be less than 1 second at 20 and 50 psi and up to 2.8 sec at 200 psi. The yelds were found to be greatly influenced by the methane to wood feed ratio. Experiments were conducted to insure the results to be that produced from the wood and methane and not a catalytic effect of the reactor wall of foreign matter. Material balance, including char analyses, indicate approximately 75 to 80% of the available carbon in the feed wood reacted. Methane balances were within the margin of error of the measuring equipment showing that there is no significant net production or consumption of methane. A preliminary economic evaluation of a 2000 ton/day wood processing plant producing ethylene, benzene and methanol showed a reasonably cmpetitive plant investment of $29,000/barrel fuel oil equivalent/day assuming 15% return on investment and present market values for the products.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 6825642
• Report Number(s): BNL-32400; CONF-830114-4; ON: DE83006218
• Resource Relation: Conference: Energy from biomass and wastes symposium, Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA, 24 Jan 1983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
WOOD
PYROLYSIS
BENZENE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CHARS
ERRORS
ETHYLENE
FUELS
MATERIAL BALANCE
METHANE
PRODUCTION
TOLUENE
ALKANES
ALKENES
AROMATICS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
140504* - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)
090122 - Hydrocarbon Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)