Biological conversion of synthesis gas. Topical report: Economic evaluations

Technical Report · Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10122059· OSTI ID:10122059

Clausen, E C; Gaddy, J L

The purpose of the proposed research is to develop a technically and economically feasible process for biologically producing H{sub 2} from synthesis gas while, at the same time, removing harmful sulfur gas compounds. Six major tasks are being studied: culture development, where the best cultures are selected and conditions optimized for simultaneous hydrogen production and sulfur gas removal; mass transfer and kinetic studies in which equations necessary for process design are developed; bioreactor design studies, where the cultures chosen in Task 1 are utilized in continuous reaction vessels to demonstrate process feasibility and define operating conditions; evaluation of biological synthesis gas conversion under limiting conditions in preparation for industrial demonstration studies; process scale-up where laboratory data are scaled to larger-size units in preparation for process demonstration in a pilot-scale unit; and economic evaluation, where process simulations are used to project process economics and identify high cost areas during sensitivity analyses. The purpose of this report is to present economic evaluations for H{sub 2} production from synthesis gone by Rhodospirillum rubrum. Cases are presented with and without light requirements and in stirred tank and immobilized cell reactors. In addition, economic information is presented for isolate ERIH{sub 2} (from Engineering Resources, Inc.) in the two reactors with and without H{sub 2} recovery.

• Research Organization: Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville, AR (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG21-90MC27225
• OSTI ID: 10122059
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/27225-3643; ON: DE94006487; BR: AA8575000; TRN: AHC29404%%13
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: Sep 1993
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
BIOSYNTHESIS
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EXPERIMENTAL DATA
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BIOSYNTHESIS AND PHOTOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
PURIFICATION AND UPGRADING
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