New Danish Super-Critical Bio-Oil Process

CatLiq is especially well-suited for treating organic waste with high water content such as sewage slurry, waste from food production and waste products from the production of bioethanol, according to SCF Technologies.

Image SourceYet another super-critical fluid technology has been developed -- this time in Denmark -- to produce bio-oils from organic waste and biomass.

Vattenfall and Aalborg University are partnering with Danish startup SCF Technologies in a two-year project to design a demonstration plant based on SCF’s CatLiq process—an application of the firm’s supercritical fluid technology in the catalytic production of bio-oil from organic waste.

CatLiq converts biomass and organic wastes in water at near or supercritical conditions (280-350 °C and 180-250 bar). Under these conditions water is very reactive, and converts, in the presence of homogeneous (KOH) and heterogeneous (ZrO2) catalysts, the organic fraction of the feed into smaller and more saturated molecules in the form of a bio-oil product, a water-soluble organics product and a high calorific value gas product. In addition to the bio-oil/methane products, the process can be tuned to produce hydrogen and water soluble fuels such as methanol, ethanol or acetaldehyde.

The high reactivity of water results in high conversion rates of organic matter and a high throughput. In 2008, SCF ran a series of tests of CatLiq using aqueous feed streams at the pilot plant in Herlev, Denmark. Test results showed CatLiq converted 70-90% of the energy in the feedstream into energy in the bio-oil product. It was based on those results that SCF began discussions with Danish and international companies on further commercialization of CatLiq. _GCC

Biocrude from Grass at Auburn University

Auburn University researchers have succeeded in using hydrothermal liquifaction to liquify switchgrass into biocrude at 235 degrees C. The image above (from Green Car Congress) illustrates the various means of converting biomass to fuels, at different temperatures. The lower the temperature utilised, the less process energy required, causing the process to be more efficient and economical.

More than 50 wt% of the organic carbon available in switchgrass was converted to biocrude after 20 minutes of steady operation at 235 °C in the presence of 0.15 wt % of K2CO3. At 260 °C, dehydration of biomass was favored over hydrolysis reactions.

The resulting biocrude consists of an aqueous phase and solid precipitates. The aqueous phase contains oligomers and monomers of five and six carbon sugars, degradation products (5-HMF and furfural), organic acids (lactic, formic, and acetic acid), 2-furancarboxaldehyde, and other phenolic products containing five to nine carbon atoms. The residual solid (i.e., biochar) contained mainly lignin fractions and a small amount of cellulose.

Using infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy, they confirmed that subcritical water treatment leads to a breakdown of lignocellulosic structure. _GCC

The more tools in the toolkit, the better we can adapt biomass to human uses. Hydrothermal liquefaction should prove useful, along with pyrolysis and gasification, for breaking down biomass into its more fuel-like components.

Update: Speaking of pyrolysis,

In Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst recently granted a biofuels startup company, Anellotech, exclusive global rights to the university’s catalytic fast pyrolysis technology developed by chemical engineer and UMass Amherst faculty member George Huber for producing clean, green “grassoline.” Huber will serve as chairman of Anellotech’s scientific advisory board.

Anellotech will offer a low-cost, single-step process for turning forest residues and waste biomass into gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and renewable chemicals including benzene, toluene and xylenes. _BiofuelsDigest

The company predicts that its biofuels will achieve price parity with gasoline by 2019.

Various biofuels companies have predicted achieving price parity with gasoline anywhere from 2010 through 2020. As these products are incorporated into the overall fuel economy, they will influence the price of hydrocarbon fuels.

Sometime around 2020, biofuels should create a solid ceiling for the price of liquid fuels. From that point on, the race will be to the bottom -- to the most economical means of producing liquid fuels from microbes and/or biomass. Petroleum and other fossil fuels will find themselves increasingly sidelined as the economics of energy and chemicals pushes progress away from fossils.

Meanwhile, deep underground, oil fields will regenerate once again. Only by then, no one will care.

BTL, Black Liquor Gasifiers, Diesel Fuel Cells etc.

Finland's Neste Oil continues to lead the pack for production of ingenious biofuels methods. Now it is teaming with Enso to build a BTL pilot plant for producing biocrude from forestry waste.

The demonstration facility at Stora Enso Varkaus Mill includes a 12 MW gasifier. It will be used to develop technologies and engineering solutions for a commercial-scale plant. The demonstration process units will cover all stages, including drying of biomass, gasification, gas cleaning and testing of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.

Swedish Chemrec AB is now operating a demonstration plant to produce syngas from "black liquor", a waste product of the paper and pulp industry. Formerly considered a pollutant and a significant disposal liability, black liquor appears to be quickly becoming a valuable revenue stream for these companies.

The development plant, DP-1, has a capacity of 20 metric tons of solids per day, is oxygen-blown and has an operating pressure of 30 bar(g). It gasifies black liquor, a by-product in the kraft process, using the Chemrec entrained-flow, high temperature technology. This technology is differentiated in that from a renewable feedstock in a single step it achieves full char conversion and produces a gas which is very low in methane and tars&mash;important characteristics of synthesis gas for production of synthetic motor fuels or chemicals.

The US DOE Pacific Northwest National Lab is developing a process to reform diesel fuel for use in portable fuel cells, using pressurised steam. Such a process could allow autos, trucks, trains, etc. to run off more efficient diesel powered fuel cells instead of diesel engines.

Biofuels Digest has an update on progress from Coskata and Zeachem.

ZeaChem confirmed that it is developing both fuels and chemicals on C2, C3, C4 and C5 platforms, including the two-carbon cellulosic ethanol and four-carbon biobutanol. Eggeman said that the company can also produce the two-carbon ethylene, an intermediate used to make plastics and other products, which is a $26 billion market, and also can make ethyl acetate from the C2 platform for a $3 billion market for that product. ZeaChem also is targeting the 3-carbon propylene, a $10 billion market.

Synthetic Biology and Biofuels: You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

The best time to work on alternatives to fossil fuels is while fuel prices are temporarily low. Better prepare now, because when those prices start rising again it may be too late to block another energy-recession.

Synthetic biology is in its early bloom. Soon, it will begin offering a greater abundance of products such as fuels, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other things unimaginable now. Unless the ever-lurking Luddites burn the bridges before they are built. That is a danger under the current political current. But the need for alternative fuels is so apparent, that it is possible the Luddites in political control will overlook this one shining promise.

Synthetic biology refers to both the design and fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist in the natural world, and the redesign and fabrication of existing biological systems. As tools are developed to hone and refine this technology, researchers across multiple disciplines are finding novel applications for it.

...One company that provides the raw material for the creation of biofuels is Agrivida, an agricultural biotech firm that creates renewable, biomass-based alternative fuels and raw materials. “We are working upstream, making plants that are more easily degradable, primarily switchgrass, sugar cane, and corn,” states R. Michael Raab, founder and president. “We are focused on nonfood crops and crop residues that are degradable into fuel.”

...Gevo develops advanced biofuels technology based on butanol and its derivatives. “The magic isn’t in the biology alone,” according to Pat Gruber, Ph.D., CEO. “It’s in the chemistry, fermentation, processing, and genetic engineering all together; knowing what tools you need, and having the tools to make it happen.”

Dr. Gruber points out that three critical pieces of technology have helped Gevo produce these on a commercial scale. “We have a group that’s been working on this for 20 years or longer. Metabolic engineering of suitable host organisms make it possible to use carbon and energy efficiently for fuel production. Process engineering makes it possible to lower product separation costs and chemistry to produce valuable hydrocarbons.”

...Two other companies working in the metabolic engineering space are Mascoma and LS9. Mascoma recently received $26 million in DOE funding, which will be applied toward the development of a cellulosic fuel production facility that uses nonfood biomass to convert woodchips into fuel. Mascoma’s production facility is expected to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol and other valuable fuel products per year.

LS9 developed new metabolic pathways that efficiently convert fatty acids to a broad portfolio of petroleum replacements. It also discovered and engineered a new class of enzymes and their associated genes that catalyze the efficient conversion of fatty acids to hydrocarbons. They recombinantly produce hydrocarbons (oxygen-deficient biocrudes), fatty acid alkyl esters (biodiesel), and a variety of industrial chemicals from sugars via fatty acid biosynthesis.

...Codexis’ technology enables solutions for cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally sound production of pharmaceuticals, transportation fuels, and industrial chemicals, reports David Anton, Ph.D., vp, bioindustrials R&D. The company focuses on biocatalysts—enzymes or microbes that initiate or accelerate chemical reactions. At Codexis, biocatalysis is used to design faster, less costly, and greener chemistry-based manufacturing processes in the life science and energy industries.

According to Dr. Anton, Codexis’ technology makes it possible to customize enzymes capable of selectively and efficiently performing a desired chemical process that doesn’t exist in nature.

...SunEthanol was recently awarded a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Program contract. This award, made as a follow-up for successfully completing a year-long Phase I grant, will allow SunEthanol to continue pioneering a process that converts plant waste into clean ethanol fuel in one simple step, saving time and money over the traditional two-step cellulosic conversion process, the company claims.

... _GenEngNews

Several more companies are mentioned and linked in the above Genengnews article. It is impossible to keep track of all the research efforts in synthetic biology that will influence biosynthetic fuels development. Every university biology or agriculture department with a significant research program will be working on this problem, in all likelihood. Whether or not the world economy improves, fuel prices will rise. If the Luddites in control suppress energy technologies, energy prices will rise out of scarcity. If the Luddites are given a well-deserved boot in the arse, energy prices will rise as economies improve. Those who are prepared will prosper. Those who are not prepared, will dieoff.org. It is the harsh way of the universe.

Previously published at Al Fin