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Title: Methods for sulfate removal in liquid-phase catalytic hydrothermal gasification of biomass

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1111121

Processing of wet biomass feedstock by liquid-phase catalytic hydrothermal gasification must address catalyst fouling and poisoning. One solution can involve heating the wet biomass with a heating unit to a pre-treatment temperature sufficient for organic constituents in the feedstock to decompose, for precipitates of inorganic wastes to form, for preheating the wet feedstock in preparation for subsequent removal of soluble sulfate contaminants, or combinations thereof. Processing further includes reacting the soluble sulfate contaminants with cations present in the feedstock material to yield a sulfate-containing precipitate and separating the inorganic precipitates and/or the sulfate-containing precipitates out of the wet feedstock. Having removed much of the inorganic wastes and the sulfate contaminants that can cause poisoning and fouling, the wet biomass feedstock can be exposed to the heterogenous catalyst for gasification.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
Assignee:
Battelle Memorial Institute (Richland, WA); Genifuel Corporation (Salt Lake City, UT)
Patent Number(s):
8,608,981
Application Number:
13/541,003
OSTI ID:
1111121
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (3)

Gasification patent-application November 2006
Mild Catalytic Steam Gasification Process patent-application January 2007
Process for Generating Methane and/or Methane Hydrate From Biomass patent-application May 2009