Pyrolysis Oil to Renewable Diesel in 3 Easy Steps

The BINGO (Biomass INto GasOil) process involves pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass to produce a primary liquid fuel, BioOil, which is then hydroreformed to a Stage 1 gas-oil equivalent liquid fuel that can either be directly utilized in blends with hydrocarbon fuels for industrial stationary power and heating applications or be further upgraded to transportation grade liquid hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline/diesel) in a Stage 2 hydrotreating process. _GCC

Biomass is converted to pyrolysis oil using heat (above 300 C) in the absence of oxygen. Bio-char is a byproduct of the process, which can be used to fertilise weak soils. The problem with pyrolysis oil has been its corrosive nature, and resistance to blending with petroleum for co-firing. Dynamotive has solved both problems with two additional hydro-reforming steps beyond the pyrolysis step.

The first stage of hydro-reforming, carried out at 330 °C and ~1,800 psi (12.4 MPa), of the biooil stabilizes the liquid; renders it miscible with hydrocarbon liquids; causes phase separation of the water in the biooil; lowers its viscosity and corrosivity; and drops the oxygen content from ~50% in the raw biooil to around 10%.

...The two stage process also allows for the opportunity to further upgrade the stage 1 renewable gasoil into diesel and gasoline fuels at a centralized facility or the development of a fully integrated plant if production logistics and economics merit it. This provides for flexibility in development and application.

Given the plant scale, the investment required is comparatively low. Approximately $33 million will deliver a 15-year production capacity of approximately 67 million gallons of renewable transportation grade hydrocarbon fuels.

Dynamotive’s pyrolysis platform is available today, with plants of 130 Mt and 200 Mt per day completed. The upgrading process uses conventional hydrotreatment equipment and process conditions allowing for rapid implementation at pilot and commercial scale. Dynamotive plans to build an upgrading pilot plant later this year. _GCC

Biomass to energy is simply a way of using stored solar energy. The sun provides less than 6 hours of usable energy on average, and practical electrical storage is still many years in the future. Bio-storage of solar energy, with conversion to electricity, liquid fuels, useful heat, etc. provides the missing pieces to the solar energy jig saw puzzle.

Robotic harvesting, drying, and compacting machinery, for compacting and drying agricultural, forestry, and municipal waste biomass, will be an important breakthrough in the scaling up of bioenergy. Pyrolysis is an excellent means for compacting biomass for transport. Mobile robotic pyrolysis systems will feed naturally into the scaling up of biomass to biofuels.