American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) FEMP Technical Assistance Installation Management Command Southeast (IMCOM-SE) Fast Pyrolysis Technology Demonstration Fort Bragg, North Carolina

FEMP technical assistance for the ESTCP Fast Pyrolysis project

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to Liquid Fuels Synthesis, Volume 2: A Techno-economic Evaluation of the Production of Mixed Alcohols

Biomass is a renewable energy resource that can be converted into liquid fuel suitable for transportation applications and thus help meet the Energy Independence and Security Act renewable energy goals (U.S. Congress 2007). However, biomass is not always available in sufficient quantity at a price compatible with fuels production. Municipal solid waste (MSW) on the other hand is readily available in large quantities in some communities and is considered a partially renewable feedstock. Furthermore, MSW may be available for little or no cost. This report provides a techno-economic analysis of the production of mixed alcohols from MSW and compares it to the costs for a wood based plant. In this analysis, MSW is processed into refuse derived fuel (RDF) and then gasified in a plant co-located with a landfill. The resulting syngas is then catalytically converted to mixed alcohols. At a scale of 2000 metric tons per day of RDF, and using current technology, the minimum ethanol selling price at a 10% rate of return is approximately $1.85/gallon ethanol (early 2008$). However, favorable economics are dependent upon the toxicity characteristics of the waste streams and that a market exists for the by-product scrap metal recovered from the RDF process

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to Liquid Fuels Synthesis, Volume 1: Availability of Feedstock and Technology

This report investigated the potential of using municipal solid waste (MSW) to make synthesis gas (syngas) suitable for production of liquid fuels. Issues examined include: • MSW physical and chemical properties affecting its suitability as a gasifier feedstock and for liquid fuels synthesis • expected process scale required for favorable economics • the availability of MSW in quantities sufficient to meet process scale requirements • the state-of-the-art of MSW gasification technology

Production of Gasoline and Diesel from Biomass via Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking: A Design Case

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a processing pathway for converting biomass into infrastructure-compatible hydrocarbon biofuels. This design case investigates production of fast pyrolysis oil from biomass and the upgrading of that bio-oil as a means for generating infrastructure-ready renewable gasoline and diesel fuels. This study has been conducted using the same methodology and underlying basis assumptions as the previous design cases for ethanol. The overall concept and specific processing steps were selected because significant data on this approach exists in the public literature. The analysis evaluates technology that has been demonstrated at the laboratory scale or is in early stages of commercialization. The fast pyrolysis of biomass is already at an early stage of commercialization, while upgrading bio-oil to transportation fuels has only been demonstrated in the laboratory and at small engineering development scale. Advanced methods of pyrolysis, which are under development, are not evaluated in this study. These may be the subject of subsequent analysis by OBP. The plant is designed to use 2000 dry metric tons/day of hybrid poplar wood chips to produce 76 million gallons/year of gasoline and diesel. The processing steps include: 1.Feed drying and size reduction 2.Fast pyrolysis to a highly oxygenated liquid product 3.Hydrotreating of the fast pyrolysis oil to a stable hydrocarbon oil with less than 2% oxygen 4.Hydrocracking of the heavy portion of the stable hydrocarbon oil 5.Distillation of the hydrotreated and hydrocracked oil into gasoline and diesel fuel blendstocks 6. Hydrogen production to support the hydrotreater reactors. The “as received” feedstock to the pyrolysis plant will be “reactor ready.” This development will likely further decrease the cost of producing the fuel. An important sensitivity is the possibility of co-locating the plant with an existing refinery. In this case, the plant consists only of the first three steps: feed prep, fast pyrolysis, and upgrading. Stabilized, upgraded pyrolysis oil is transferred to the refinery for separation and finishing into motor fuels. The off-gas from the hydrotreaters is also transferred to the refinery, and in return the refinery provides lower-cost hydrogen for the hydrotreaters. This reduces the capital investment. Production costs near $2/gal (in 2007 dollars) and petroleum industry infrastructure-ready products make the production and upgrading of pyrolysis oil to hydrocarbon fuels an economically attractive source of renewable fuels. The study also identifies technical areas where additional research can potentially lead to further cost improvements

Production of Gasoline and Diesel from Biomass via Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking: A Design Case

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a processing pathway for converting biomass into infrastructure-compatible hydrocarbon biofuels. This design case investigates production of fast pyrolysis oil from biomass and the upgrading of that bio-oil as a means for generating infrastructure-ready renewable gasoline and diesel fuels. This study has been conducted using similar methodology and underlying basis assumptions as the previous design cases for ethanol. The overall concept and specific processing steps were selected because significant data on this approach exists in the public literature. The analysis evaluates technology that has been demonstrated at the laboratory scale or is in early stages of commercialization. The fast pyrolysis of biomass is already at an early stage of commercialization, while upgrading bio-oil to transportation fuels has only been demonstrated in the laboratory and at small engineering development scale. Advanced methods of pyrolysis, which are under development, are not evaluated in this study. These may be the subject of subsequent analysis by OBP. The plant is designed to use 2000 dry metric tons/day of hybrid poplar wood chips to produce 76 million gallons/year of gasoline and diesel. The processing steps include: 1.Feed drying and size reduction 2.Fast pyrolysis to a highly oxygenated liquid product 3.Hydrotreating of the fast pyrolysis oil to a stable hydrocarbon oil with less than 2% oxygen 4.Hydrocracking of the heavy portion of the stable hydrocarbon oil 5.Distillation of the hydrotreated and hydrocracked oil into gasoline and diesel fuel blendstocks 6. Hydrogen production to support the hydrotreater reactors. The "as received" feedstock to the pyrolysis plant will be "reactor ready". This development will likely further decrease the cost of producing the fuel. An important sensitivity is the possibility of co-locating the plant with an existing refinery. In this case, the plant consists only of the first three steps: feed prep, fast pyrolysis, and upgrading. Stabilized, upgraded pyrolysis oil is transferred to the refinery for separation and finishing into motor fuels. The off-gas from the hydrotreaters is also transferred to the refinery, and in return the refinery provides lower-cost hydrogen for the hydrotreaters. This reduces the capital investment. Production costs near $2/gal (in 2007 dollars) and petroleum industry infrastructure-ready products make the production and upgrading of pyrolysis oil to hydrocarbon fuels an economically attractive source of renewable fuels. The study also identifies technical areas where additional research can potentially lead to further cost improvements

Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification of Lignin-Rich Biorefinery Residues and Algae Final Report

This report describes the results of the work performed by PNNL using feedstock materials provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, KL Energy and Lignol lignocellulosic ethanol pilot plants. Test results with algae feedstocks provided by Genifuel, which provided in-kind cost share to the project, are also included. The work conducted during this project involved developing and demonstrating on the bench-scale process technology at PNNL for catalytic hydrothermal gasification of lignin-rich biorefinery residues and algae. A technoeconomic assessment evaluated the use of the technology for energy recovery in a lignocellulosic ethanol plant