Techno-economic analysis of biomass fast pyrolysis to transportation fuels

Wright, Mark M.; Daugaard, Daren E.; Satrio, Justinus A.; Brown, Robert C.

doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2010.07.029

Cited by 614 publications

(257 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Other equipment costs, such as those of distillation columns, flash tanks, compressors and motors are calculated using ChemCAD built-in costing after sizing and the rest is obtained from publicallyavailable literature. 4,30,33,35,38,39 A fixed-factor method is used as described in Table 3 to obtain TPI from total purchased equipment cost (TPEC) in order to avoid the significant variances reported for individual equipment factors. 40 Lang factor multiplier represents TPI/TPEC.…”

Section: Techno-economicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…40 A Lang factor of 5.46 is reported for fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing, which is similar to mild CP and hydroprocessing. 4 More recent methods, such as one developed by Guthrie, promise to improve accuracy by using different factors for different equipment. 48 However, statistically derived factors could provide better estimations by lowering uncertainties involved.…”

Section: Uncertainty Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 The result is diminished fuel yield and increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 3,4 As an alternative to this conventional approach to producing hydrocarbon fuels from fast pyrolysis, vapors released during pyrolysis can be exposed to a solid acid catalyst to obtain higher-quality pyrolysis liquid. Oxygenated polar compounds in the vapor are partially or fully deoxygenated through the acid activity encountered when the vapor passes through pores in the catalyst.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mild catalytic pyrolysis of biomass for production of transportation fuels: a techno-economic analysis

Thilakaratne

Brown

et al. 2014

Green Chem.

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A techno-economic analysis of mild catalytic pyrolysis (CP) of woody biomass followed by upgrading of the partially deoxygenated pyrolysis liquid is performed to assess this pathway's economic feasibility for the production of hydrocarbon-based biofuels. The process achieves a fuel yield of 17.7 wt% and an energy conversion of 39%. Deoxygenation of the pyrolysis liquid requires 2.7 wt% hydrogen while saturation of aromatic rings in the pyrolysis liquid increases total hydrogen consumption to 6.4 wt%. Total project investment is $457 million with annual operating costs of $142 million for a 2000 metric ton per day facility. A minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $3.69/gal is estimated assuming 10% internal rate of return. Twentynine percent of the capital outlay is the result of including a co-generation system to consume heat generated from burning part of the off-gases from pyrolysis and upgrading and all of the coke during regeneration of catalysts. Forty-five percent of the MFSP arises from the cost of biomass feedstock. Hydrogen required for the upgrading process is generated using the balance of the process off-gases.The analysis reveals that an optimum design would include a cogeneration unit; however using natural gas for hydrogen generation is more favorable than using process off-gases as the feed. An uncertainty analysis indicates a probable fuel price of $3.03/gal, demonstrating the potential of the CP pathway as an alternative to petroleum-derived transportation fuels. AbstractA techno-economic analysis of mild catalytic pyrolysis (CP) of woody biomass followed by upgrading of the partially deoxygenated pyrolysis liquid is performed to assess this pathway's economic feasibility for the production of hydrocarbon-based biofuels. The process achieves a fuel yield of 17.7 wt% and an energy conversion of 39%. Deoxygenation of the pyrolysis liquid requires 2.7 wt% hydrogen while saturation of aromatic rings in the pyrolysis liquid increases total hydrogen consumption to 6.4 wt%.Total project investment is $457 million with annual operating costs of $142 million for a 2000 metric ton per day facility. A minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $3.69/gal is estimated assuming 10% internal rate of return. Twenty-nine percent of the capital outlay is the result of including a co-generation system to consume heat generated from burning part of the off-gases from pyrolysis and upgrading and all of the coke during regeneration of catalysts. Forty-five percent of the MFSP arises from the cost of biomass feedstock. Hydrogen required for the upgrading process is generated using the balance of the process off-gases.This is a manuscript of an article from Green Chemistry 16 (2014): 627, doi: 10.1039/C3GC41314D. Posted with permission. 2The analysis reveals that an optimum design would include a cogeneration unit; however using natural gas for hydrogen generation is more favorable than using process off-gases as the feed.An uncertainty analysis indicates a probable fuel price of $3.03/gal, demonstrating the potent...

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Section: Techno-economicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Uncertainty Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mild catalytic pyrolysis of biomass for production of transportation fuels: a techno-economic analysis

Thilakaratne

Brown

et al. 2014

Green Chem.

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“…A mean discount rate of 10% was used to convert future values into present values, which is a rate commonly used in technoeconomic evaluation of bioenergy projects [24,31,32]. The discount rate in this case is composed of a riskless real rate of 3.0%, which is comprised of a nominal rate of 2.5% and the long-run inflation rate of 0.5%, and an implied risk premium of 6%.…”

Section: Economic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Technoeconomic and Policy Drivers of Project Performance for Bioenergy Alternatives Using Biomass from Beetle-Killed Trees

Campbell

Anderson

Daugaard³

et al. 2018

Energies

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Abstract:As a result of widespread mortality from beetle infestation in the forests of the western United States, there are substantial stocks of biomass suitable as a feedstock for energy production. This study explored the financial viability of four production pathway scenarios for the conversion of beetle-killed pine to bioenergy and bioproducts in the Rocky Mountains. Monte Carlo simulation using data obtained from planned and existing projects was used to account for uncertainty in key technoeconomic variables and to provide distributions of project net present value (NPV), as well as for sensitivity analysis of key economic and production variables. Over a 20-year project period, results for base case scenarios reveal mean NPV ranging from a low of −$8.3 million for electric power production to a high of $76.0 million for liquid biofuel with a biochar co-product. However, under simulation, all scenarios had conditions resulting in both positive and negative NPV. NPV ranged from −$74.5 million to $51.4 million for electric power, and from −$21.6 million to $246.3 million for liquid biofuels. The potential effects of economic trends and public policies that aim to promote renewable energy and biomass utilization are discussed for each production pathway. Because the factors that most strongly affect financial viability differ across projects, the likely effects of particular types of policies are also shown to vary substantially.

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“…These attributes have led the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the USA to work on the concept of distributed H 2 production by bio-oil catalytic reforming [9][10][11][12], which is currently a promising options for bio-oil use. Other work has been done in collaboration with the NREL-transportation fuel production from bio-oils via bio-oil hydroprocessing-where the H 2 needed is produced by the catalytic reforming of 38 wt % of feedstock [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio-Oil Steam Reforming over a Mining Residue Functionalized with Ni as Catalyst: Ni-UGSO

et al. 2017

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Bio-oil reforming is considered for syngas or H 2 production. In this work, we studied the steam reforming (SR) of two raw bio-oils without adding external steam, using a recently-developed catalyst, Ni-UGSO. Experiments were performed at temperature (T) = 750-850 • C and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) = 1.7-7.1 g/g cat /h to assess C conversion (X C ) and product yields. The results show that, in all conditions and with both bio-oils tested, the catalyst is stable for the entire duration of the tests (~500 min) even when some C deposition occurred and that only at the highest WHSV tested there is a slight deactivation. In all tests, catalytic activity remained constant after a first, short, transient state, which corresponded to catalyst activation. The highest yields and conversions, with Y H 2 , Y CO and X C of 94%, 84% and 100%, respectively, were observed at temperatures above 800 • C and WHSV = 1.7 g/g cat /h. The amount of H 2 O in the bio-oils had a non-negligible effect on catalyst activity, impacting Y H 2 , Y CO and X C values. It was observed that, above a critical amount of H 2 O, the catalyst was not fully activated. However, higher H 2 O content led to the reduction of C deposits as well as lower Y H 2 and Y CO and, through the water-gas-shift reaction, to higher Y CO 2 (CO 2 selectivity). Fresh and spent catalysts were analyzed by physisorption (BET), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis: the results reveal that, during the oils' SR reaction, the initial spinel (Ni-Fe-Mg-Al) structures decreased over time-on-stream (TOS), while metallic Ni, Fe and their alloy phases appeared. Although significant sintering was observed in used catalysts, especially at high H 2 O/C ratio, the catalyst's specific surface generally increased; the latter was attributed to the presence of nanometric metallic Ni and Ni-Fe alloy particles formed by reduction reactions. A small amount of C (4%) was formed at low H 2 O/C.

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Techno-economic analysis of biomass fast pyrolysis to transportation fuels

Cited by 614 publications

References 17 publications

Mild catalytic pyrolysis of biomass for production of transportation fuels: a techno-economic analysis

Mild catalytic pyrolysis of biomass for production of transportation fuels: a techno-economic analysis

Technoeconomic and Policy Drivers of Project Performance for Bioenergy Alternatives Using Biomass from Beetle-Killed Trees

Bio-Oil Steam Reforming over a Mining Residue Functionalized with Ni as Catalyst: Ni-UGSO

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