Atom Economical Biofuel Production from Biomass. Devinder Mahajan. AEC 2010 New York Hilton New York. November 8-9, 2010

Transcription

1 Atom Economical Biofuel Production from Biomass Devinder Mahajan AEC 2010 New York Hilton New York November 8-9, 2010 Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers

2 Our Location Stony Brook U. BNL JFK Airport

3 Acknowledgments National Science Foundation (NSF) U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) BNL: Program Development U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) SBU: Office of Vice President for Research Industry

4 The Group (BNL/SBU) Students - M. Eaton (Exxonmobil) - M. Anjom (SBU) RA - P. Kerkar (CSM) Graduate - Y. Hung - Kristine Horvat - S. Patel - S. Xiong - W. Nan - C. Okoli - Tshiung-Ming Yeh - Kurian Kuttiyel Undergraduate 5+ students/year (SULI and Battelle Fellowships) Collaborators BNL USDA Columbia U. NRL Schlumberger Doll Research Farmingdale State College NC A&T

5 Biomass Feedstock Billion ton study (USDA/DOE) Agriculture: Corn stover, wheat straw, soybean residue, manure, switchgrass, other energy crops. Forest: Forest thinnings, fuelwoods, logging residues, wood processing and paper mill residues, urban wood wastes.

6 Biomass: Structural Units Source: US DOE Cellulose: Polymer and cross-linkages among glucose units. Hemicellulose: 5, 6 carbon sugars, sugar acids, acetyl esters- more complicated than cellulose. Typical composition Carbohydrates/Sugars: 75% Lignin: 25% Lignin: Phenolic polymers- impart strength to plants.

7 Biorefinery Concept

8 Biomass to Biofuels: Possible Routes Resources Conversion Product Market Solid Biomass (Wood, straw) Combustion Heat Heat/CHP Wet Biomass (organic waste, manure) Gasification Pyrolysis gy Fuel Gas Bio oil Electricity Sugar, Starch plants (sugar beet, cereals) Oil Crops (rapeseed, other oils) Digestion Hydrolysis & Fermentation Extraction & Esterification Biogas Bioethanol Biodiesel Transportation Fuels Chemicals Source: Chemical Engineering, October 2006

9 Commercial Biofuels- Statistics Biodiesel Production (billion gallons): (2008); ~0.5*(2009) # of plants: 176 Capacity: 2 billion gallons Ethanol Production (billion gallons): - 10 (2009) Capacity: 12.5 # of plants: 180 # of companies: Jobs Bill: $1/gallon credit!!! *Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS)

10 Biofuels Production: Challenges Humanitarian Food vs Fuel debate (recent riots in Asia and other countries with rising fuel prices). For each 1% rise in food prices, caloric intake among the poor drops 0.5% (World Bank Report). By 2025, 1.25 billion people will go hungry. ¼ US Production of grain (2009) = Feeding 330 million people

11 Center for Bioenergy R&D Partner Universities South Dakota School of Mines & Technology North Carolina State University U. of Hawaii Stony Brook University Kansas State University Industry Members: 25+

12 Thrust Areas in BioEnergy BIOGAS SYNGAS to FUELS BIO-OIL Pipeline quality gas from biogas. Transportation fuels- MeOH, DME, Renewable diesel. 12

13 Economical Biomass Processing USDA Model 50 miles Biomass collection Process biomass on-site to bio-oil Transport bio-oil to a nearby facility Produce transportation fuels

14 Task 1. Bio-oil Samples USDA Pyrolysis Pilot unit. Two samples: Corn stover Soybean straw 14

15 Task 2: Bio-oil Characterization Physical Property Corn Bio-oil Soy Bio-oil Stability Unstable Unstable ph Viscosity 40 C C Pour Point ( C) Density (@ 25 C) Kg/l Composition Ash (wt%) Carbon (wt%) Oxygen (wt%) Hydrogen (wt%) Sulfur (wt%) Nitrogen (wt%)

16 Batch Unit

17 Task 3: Batch Upgrading Data Run # Catalyst Solvent Sample Bio-Oil P i (H 2 ) P f (H 2 ) ph i ph f CO 2 CH 4 (g) (ml) (ml) (psig) (psig) (%) (%) 1 NiCl 2 (0.5) PEG(25) Soybea n Straw NiCl 2 (0.4) PEG(20) Corn Stover 4 γ-al2o3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover NiCl2(0.1) γ-al2o3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover P i = Initial P at RT, P f = Final P at RT. Run time: 5 hours at 250 o C. 17

18 Future Effort in Biofuels Production Challenge Total Carbon Utility with Product specificity- Atom Economy Use non-food feedstocks Approach Combine new Process Engineering and Process Chemistry concepts. Process Chemistry Liquid Phase Low Temperature (LPLT) concept - Single-site or Nano catalysis Process Engineering Heat management - Microchannel Reactors

19 Future: Facilities AERTC CFN Research Facility New York State funded $45 million at SBU. - Build the Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center (AERTC) NSF C-BERD will be housed in this building. Characterization Facilities Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) - A U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) $85 million facility at BNL.

20 Application: Long Island's Smart Energy Corridor 20

21 Summary Bio-oil sample supply is obtained. Physical properties of bio-oils have been measured. Run are underway for batch-mode upgrading to liquid biofuels. Application to skid-mounted units and smart grid. 21

22 Key Publications Guest Editor: D. Mahajan Clean Fuels Methane Hydrates Biomass to Fuels Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy (JRSE): Special Volume 2010