Comparative techno-economic analysis and process design for indirect liquefaction pathways to distillate-range fuels via biomass-derived oxygenated intermediates upgrading: Liquid Transportation Fuel Production 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:1340860

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]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA

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 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, gas cleanup, 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: 1) mixed alcohols over a MoS2 catalyst, 2) mixed oxygenates (a mixture of C2+ oxygenated compounds, predominantly ethanol, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate) using an Rh-based catalyst, and 3) ethanol from syngas fermentation. This is followed by the conversion of oxygenates/alcohols to fuel-range olefins in two approaches: 1) mixed alcohols/ethanol to 1-butanol rich mixture via Guerbet reaction, followed by alcohol dehydration, oligomerization, and hydrogenation, and 2) mixed oxygenates/ethanol to isobutene rich mixture and followed by oligomerization and hydrogenation. The design features a processing capacity of 2,000 tonnes/day (2,205 short tons) of dry biomass. The minimum fuel selling prices (MFSPs) for the four developing pathways range from $3.40 to $5.04 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). Overall, this comparative TEA study documents potential economics for the developmental biofuel pathways via mixed oxygenates.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1340860
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-120207; BM0101010
• Journal Information: Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, Vol. 11, Issue 1; ISSN 1932-104X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English