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Biomass Gasification for Chemicals Production Using Chemical Looping Techniques (Final Report)

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1997485· OSTI ID:1997485
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Ohio State University; Ohio State Univesity
  2. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
The Ohio State University (OSU) is investigating the Biomass to Syngas (BTS) chemical looping technology to produce syngas for chemical production applications from biomass under US Department of Energy (DOE) Award #DE-EE0007530. The BTS process aligns with the programmatic area of interest of “Conversion, via biological, thermal, catalytic or chemical means, of acceptable feedstocks into advanced biofuels and/or biobased products including intermediate and end-use products”. Compared to conventional biomass gasification processes, the BTS process eliminates the need for air separation units and tar reforming reactors, which leads to energy efficiency improvement and capital cost reduction. The overall objective is to ascertain the potential of biomass gasification based on the chemical looping technique through mitigation of the possible techno-economic challenges in the steps of scale up for commercialization. The scope of work consists of 1) designing, constructing and operating a 10 kWth commercially scalable sub-pilot BTS system and; 2) completing a comprehensive techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the BTS process using methanol production as an example. Over the course of the project, the project team completed the design, fabrication, and operation of a 10 kWth sub-pilot scale test unit for the BTS process. Corn cob and wood pellets were successfully tested in the unit for high purity syngas generation in extended test campaigns that totals over 200 hours. Syngas purity (H2 and CO) of >70% was achieved with a CH4 concentration of <6%. The H2/CO ratio was greater than 1.8. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis was performed to compare the BTS process and a reference indirectly heated gasification process for methanol synthesis. The result, updated with experimental results for BTS process performance, shows a methanol required selling price (MSP) of $$\$$ $1.15/gal, compared to $1.28/gal for the reference case.
Research Organization:
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
DOE Contract Number:
EE0007530
OSTI ID:
1997485
Report Number(s):
DE--EE0007530
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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