Atom Economical Biofuel Production from Biomass Devinder Mahajan AEC 2010 New York Hilton New York November 8-9, 2010 Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers *dmahajan@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Our Location Stony Brook U. BNL JFK Airport
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
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
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.
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.
Biorefinery Concept
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
Commercial Biofuels- Statistics Biodiesel Production (billion gallons): - 0.7 (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: 150 2010 Jobs Bill: $1/gallon credit!!! *Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS)
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
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+
Thrust Areas in BioEnergy BIOGAS SYNGAS to FUELS BIO-OIL Pipeline quality gas from biogas. Transportation fuels- MeOH, DME, Renewable diesel. 12
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
Task 1. Bio-oil Samples USDA Pyrolysis Pilot unit. Two samples: Corn stover Soybean straw 14
Task 2: Bio-oil Characterization Physical Property Corn Bio-oil Soy Bio-oil Stability Unstable Unstable ph 2.37 2.41 Viscosity (cst) @ 40 C 15.24 10.89 @ 100 C 2.41 1.81 Pour Point ( C) -19-17 Density (@ 25 C) Kg/l 1.23 1.17 Composition Ash (wt%) 0.05 0.06 Carbon (wt%) 40.81 42.64 Oxygen (wt%) 51.21 49.54 Hydrogen (wt%) 7.29 6.94 Sulfur (wt%) 0.15 0.14 Nitrogen (wt%) 0.54 0.74 15
Batch Unit
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 25 468 430 4.11 3.87 8.63 0.99 2 NiCl 2 (0.4) PEG(20) Corn Stover 4 γ-al2o3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover 20 467 441 4.15 3.45 14.4 0.69 10 201 206 4.85 5.65 4.69 0 5 NiCl2(0.1) γ-al2o3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover 10 199 197 4.81 4.67 8.16 0 P i = Initial P at RT, P f = Final P at RT. Run time: 5 hours at 250 o C. 17
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
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.
Application: Long Island's Smart Energy Corridor 20
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
Key Publications Guest Editor: D. Mahajan Clean Fuels Methane Hydrates Biomass to Fuels 2005 2007 2007 Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy (JRSE): Special Volume 2010