Comparative techno-economic analysis and process design for indirect liquefaction pathways to distillate-range fuels via biomass-derived oxygenated intermediates upgrading

Tan, Eric C. D.; Snowden-Swan, Lesley J.; Talmadge, Michael; Dutta, Abhijit; Jones, Susanne; Ramasamy, Karthikeyan K.; Gray, Michel; Dagle, Robert; Padmaperuma, Asanga; Gerber, Mark; Sahir, Asad H.; Tao, Ling; Zhang, Yanan

doi:10.1002/bbb.1710

Comparative techno-economic analysis and process design for indirect liquefaction pathways to distillate-range fuels via biomass-derived oxygenated intermediates upgrading

Journal Article · Tue Sep 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1710· OSTI ID:1340652

Tan, Eric C. D. ^[1]; Snowden-Swan, Lesley J. ^[2]; Talmadge, Michael ^[1]; Dutta, Abhijit ^[1]; Jones, Susanne ^[2]; Ramasamy, Karthikeyan K. ^[2]; Gray, Michel ^[2]; Dagle, Robert ^[2]; Padmaperuma, Asanga ^[2]; Gerber, Mark ^[2]; Sahir, Asad H. ^[1]; Tao, Ling ^[1]; Zhang, Yanan ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

This paper presents a comparative techno-economic analysis (TEA) of five conversion pathways from biomass to gasoline-, jet-, and diesel-range hydrocarbons via indirect liquefaction with a specific focus on pathways utilizing oxygenated intermediates. The four emerging pathways of interest are compared with one conventional pathway (Fischer-Tropsch) for the production of the hydrocarbon blendstocks. The processing steps of the four emerging pathways include biomass-to-syngas via indirect gasification, syngas clean-up, conversion of syngas to alcohols/oxygenates followed by conversion of alcohols/oxygenates to hydrocarbon blendstocks via dehydration, oligomerization, and hydrogenation. Conversion of biomass-derived syngas to oxygenated intermediates occurs via three different pathways, producing: (i) mixed alcohols over a MoS₂ catalyst, (ii) mixed oxygenates (a mixture of C₂₊ oxygenated compounds, predominantly ethanol, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate) using an Rh-based catalyst, and (iii) ethanol from syngas fermentation. This is followed by the conversion of oxygenates/alcohols to fuel-range olefins in two approaches: (i) mixed alcohols/ethanol to 1-butanol rich mixture via Guerbet reaction, followed by alcohol dehydration, oligomerization, and hydrogenation, and (ii) mixed oxygenates/ethanol to isobutene rich mixture and followed by oligomerization and hydrogenation. The design features a processing capacity of 2000 tonnes/day (2205 short tons) of dry biomass. The minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs) for the four developing pathways range from 3.40 dollars to 5.04 dollars per gasoline-gallon equivalent (GGE), in 2011 US dollars. Sensitivity studies show that MFSPs can be improved with co-product credits and are comparable to the commercial Fischer-Tropsch benchmark ($3.58/GGE). Altogether, this comparative TEA study documents potential economics for the developmental biofuel pathways via mixed oxygenates.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States))

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (EE-3B)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1340652

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1401880
OSTI ID: 1340860

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5100-66921

Journal Information:: Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, Journal Name: Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 1932-104X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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