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    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals
    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals
    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals
    Ebook527 pages4 hours

    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals

    By Akwasi A. Boateng

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    About this ebook

    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals provides a thorough overview of thermochemical conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals via the pyrolysis platform. The book covers the principles underlying pyrolysis of biomass from the chemical engineering perspective. It discusses thermal-only pyrolysis, the traditional pyrolysis process under inert atmosphere with no catalyst, and the role of catalytic pyrolysis and tail gas reactive pyrolysis in resolving the instability issues associated with product distribution. The addresses condensed phase upgrading where the oil produced can be upgraded for stability or hydrogenated to drop-in transportation fuels, as well as feedstock selection, including opportunity fuels/feedstocks.

    Finally, pilot and demonstration scale projects from around the world are examined, and some immediate applications of pyrolysis oils in combustion systems are analyzed. Engineering researchers and professionals in the bioenergy, biochemical, and petrochemical fields find in this book a complete resource for understanding the relationships between possible technologies, applications, costs, and products value, as they tackle the challenges for large scale adoption of pyrolysis for the production of 2nd generation biofuels and biochemicals. PhD students in areas of energy, chemical, mechanical, and materials engineering will also benefit from fundamental and applied research in a concise format that can save them time and serve as a reference through bioenergy conversion courses.

    • Covers thermal only pyrolysis, catalytic pyrolysis, and tail gas reactive pyrolysis
    • Examines the relationships between technologies, applications, costs and products value, and end-use
    • Offers a cradle-to-grave approach that includes coverage of feedstocks, their compositional traits, and how they affect conversion technologies with regard to yields, quality of pyrolysis fuel intermediates, and subsequent upgrade to drop-in fuels
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAcademic Press
    Release dateMay 27, 2020
    ISBN9780128182147
    Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals
    Author

    Akwasi A. Boateng

    Dubbed “the kiln doctor”, Dr. Boateng has an MS in thermo-fluids mechanics, and a Ph.D. in metals and materials process engineering with a focus on rotary kilns from the University of New Brunswick. He has authored and/or co-authored over 90 peer reviewed publications on energy, biofuels and biochemicals, minerals and materials process engineering in flagship journals. Dr. Boateng is now a Lead Scientist with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA pursuing research in biofuels and bioenergy.

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      Book preview

      Pyrolysis of Biomass for Fuels and Chemicals - Akwasi A. Boateng

      2020

      Preface

      Akwasi A. Boateng, Lead Scientist (Retired), USDA-ARS, Royersford, PA, United States

      This book brings you the state of research and the art of pyrolysis biorefinery for the production of fuels and chemicals led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the period leading to the renewable fuels drive to energy independence and to replace fossil fuel with advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in the United States as charted by the renewable-fuels standards Act on US Biofuels Policy. Agriculture is by all means the largest source of food, fiber, and lignocellulosic biomass, including agricultural residues and energy crops. Thus, biomass is by far the largest source of renewable carbon for biofuels production when it comes to the pyrolysis conversion platform. Because of its synergy with petrochemical technologies and its compact design footprint, the pyrolysis technology fits well into the farming framework as well as the USDA vision, whereby integrated on-farm bioenergy systems can produce biocrude at site leaving the biochar coproduct behind for soil amendment, sequestering carbon, and building soil quality to increase agricultural productivity so food and bioenergy crop can be sustainably harvested. Other conversion technologies, including biochemical conversion, fall short of this promise. The narrative outlined herein is the story of the research efforts spearheaded by the author and the knowledge base he helped built during his 16-year tenure as the lead scientist of the USDA Pyrolysis Biorefining Program.

      Cellulosic biofuels (i.e., biofuels produced from the structural fibers of plants) are in their infancy, with a limited number of commercial facilities operating in the United States. Amidst 20+ years of strong R&D funding attempts to commercialize, pyrolysis biorefining facilities have not been fully realized having faced challenges leading to some false starts and outright closures. The work presented here is part of the research and development efforts purported to address these challenges so as to reduce technology uncertainty and the risk of scaling up to long-term commercial operations.

      The outline begins with Chapter 1, Introduction, an introduction to the biofuels agenda and where general bioconversion including biochemical and thermochemical technology platforms are defined making a case for the pyrolysis biorefinery appeal for on-farm and/or in-forest setting. Chapter 2, Thermal Pyrolysis, discuses thermal-only fast pyrolysis, which looks at pyrolysis as feedstock agnostic and bio-oil yields in excess of 60 wt.% but along with this high yielding is a slew of stability issues that creates barriers to its utility as fuel. In Chapter 3, Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis, catalytic pyrolysis research that addresses some of the barriers is discussed drawing synergies with petroleum refining where the use of heterogeneous cracking catalysts such as zeolites have received a widespread application. Chapter 4, Reactive Pyrolysis, provides some background and research results that demonstrate that use of reactive atmospheres, with or without catalyst, which is equally capable of forming reduced or mild-level oxygen bio-oils resulting in better stability even though, like in catalytic pyrolysis, yields are compromised for better quality. However, these products can be a better starting liquid feed for a biorefinery. Chapter 5, Condensed-Phase Pyrolysis Oil Upgrading, picks up from how the formed bio-oils can be upgraded to gasoline equivalent fungible fuels using some of the existing technologies in the petrochemical infrastructure such as hydrodeoxygenation and hydrodesulfurization and challenges faced due purely to the liquid being biomass derived. Here, it becomes evident why the synergy between the petroleum and biorefinery has not lived up to the full potential leading to commercializing challenges. Chapter 6, Combustion Applications of Pyrolysis Liquids, discusses how the bio-oil stability issues propagate to the use of bio-oil for combustion in compression-ignition engines, residential heaters, and industrial furnaces. One would think that here is an area particularly in the northeast United States where there is a need for residential heat run on fossil fuel and an abundance of biomass that could provide a renewable biofuel replacement. Combustion of neat pyrolysis oil is problematic, but nozzle designs are evolving toward those that can generate turbulent diffusion flames. Some companies are pursuing neat bio-oil as bridge fuel for industrial furnace combustion applications. Our research results on flames and emissions patterns are presented herein. In Chapter 7, Pyrolysis Conversion Technology Systems and Integration, pyrolysis oil production systems and their integration are viewed in terms of technology readiness level that guide good engineering practice for new technological developments such as pyrolysis biorefineries. Various scales are discussed and so are distributed/satellite and mobile systems that can go to the biomass source as against large centralized facilities based on economies of scale. Chapter 8, Biorefinery Performance Measurements, discusses bioenergy performance metrices that include mass, energy, and exergy balances along with techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessments for various processes in case studies that include stand-alone, colocated at the biomass source, and integration into existing industries, including petroleum infrastructure. Their end products minimum selling price as well as product life cycle are assessed in terms of global warming potential. The techno-economics of new trends where pyrolysis oils are partially cofed with vacuum gas oil are discussed. In Chapter 9, Energy Crops—Biomass Resources and Traits, biomass resources such as energy crops and how their compositional traits and harvest time affect pyrolysis oil yield and product distribution are discussed. These offer tips to farmers growing energy crops such as switchgrass on consequences of cropping and harvesting for biofuels production. This book completes with Chapter 10, Pyrolysis Solid Coproducts and Usage, by addressing fast pyrolysis solid coproduct applications. While biochar has been touted for soil amendment, agronomic applications have shown mixed results because not all biochars are created equal. While fast pyrolysis that maximizes bio-oil comes with biochar coproduct, their characteristics are different from that produced by slow pyrolysis in terms of functional groups that have the unique potential for use in biocidal applications.

      Many thanks go to the many collaborators, including fellow research scientists at the agency, coprincipal investigators from various university and research institutions on his grants, engineers and technicians, postdoctoral fellows, and predoctoral students, including high-school students in the STEM program who graced his laboratory in Wyndmoor, PA and worked under his direction through appropriated and competitive grant projects.

      2020

      1

      Introduction

      Abstract

      Lignocellulosic biofuels and biochemicals are fuels and chemicals such as ethanol or hydrocarbons produced from structured fibers of plants comprising cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin polymers. These polymers need to be deconstructed thermally (thermochemical) or biologically (biochemical) and treated to produce transportation fuels and chemicals. This chapter introduces the reader to the US national biofuels agenda on bioconversion, including biochemical and thermochemical technology platforms. Herein, the thermochemical biomass conversion technologies are described followed by a detailed pyrolysis conversion pathway leading to fast pyrolysis as a platform for the biorefinery. The historical development of the biofuels agenda that brought pyrolysis biorefinery into the forefront due to its synergy with petrochemical refineries is briefly discussed.

      Keywords

      Biomass; thermochemical conversion; fast pyrolysis; fluidized bed technology; kinetics; US energy independence

      1.1 Biomass conversion technologies

      Lignocellulosic biofuels and biochemicals are fuels and chemicals such as ethanol or hydrocarbons produced from structured fibers of plants comprising cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin polymers. These polymers need to be deconstructed thermally (thermochemical) or biologically (biochemical) and treated to produce transportation fuels and chemicals. Both technological routes are often categorized as bioconversion because biomass is the primary precursor, a biodegradable, organic, or renewable feedstock. Before describing thermochemical conversion technologies, a brief introduction of biochemical conversion is necessary to decipher the differences between these technologies.

      1.1.1 Biochemical conversion

      To produce cellulosic ethanol as an energy carrier, the biomass is broken down to release the carbohydrate that is, in turn, subjected to enzymatic or bacterial degradation, the most common process being fermentation, the oxidation/reduction of organic compounds that takes place in the absence of external electronic acceptors (Drapcho et al., 2008). Fermentation of simple sugars such as glucose can be accomplished by yeast or bacteria to form alcohols such as ethanol along with the release of

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