Title: Understanding the role of Fischer–Tropsch reaction kinetics in techno-economic analysis for co-conversion of natural gas and biomass to liquid transportation fuels

Abstract

With the increased availability of low-cost natural gas, the co-conversion of natural gas and biomass-to-liquid fuels has attracted attention from industry due to its potential for improving liquid fuel yields while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, we provide an understanding of Fischer-Tropsch kinetics, improvements in processing strategies for hydrocarbon production, and of its impact on cost for the co-conversion of natural gas and biomass-to-transportation fuels. Studies that investigate the effect of Fischer-Tropsch reaction kinetics on techno-economic analysis can be used to develop process models that consider reaction stoichiometry and account for the effect of the paraffin-to-olefin ratio. We consider two processing scenarios: (1) one that does not employ a hydrocracker, and (2) the other where a hydrocracker serves as an integral part of the process scheme. Our analysis shows that co-processing natural gas not only facilitates the economic benefits of converting biomass-to-liquid fuels but also facilitates flexibility in process integration. The resulting minimum fuel selling price ranged from $2.47-$3.47/GGE (gallon gasoline equivalent) without the hydrocracker and ranged from $2.17-$3.60/GGE with the inclusion of the hydrocracker, for a 50 million GGE hydrocarbon fuel production facility and for varying blending ratios for biomass from 0-100% with natural gas. The hydrocrackermore » helps to increase the production of diesel and jet fuels substantially, with carbon efficiencies of 50% attained for a chain growth probability of 0.87. The cost penalty comes from the capital expenses of the hydrocracker, and the expense may not be offset with hydrocarbon yield improvement.« less

Authors:

Sahir, Asad H.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-9552-3119"

Zhang, Yanan ^[1]; Tan, Eric C. D.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Tan, Eric C. D."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9110-2410"

Tao, Ling  ^[1]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1063-1984"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Biorefinery Analysis and Exploratory Research, National Bioenergy Center

Publication Date:

Mon Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:

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

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)

OSTI Identifier:

1547249

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1543360

Report Number(s):

NREL/JA-5100-72752
Journal ID: ISSN 1932-104X

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC36-08GO28308; AC36‐08GO28308

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 13; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-104X

Publisher:

Wiley

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

09 BIOMASS FUELS; techno-economic analysis; gas-to-liquid; biomass; Fischer-Tropsch; gasification; renewable jet fuel; bioenergy; natural gas; co-conversion