AEC Mahajan_11-8-9-2010SECURED

Atom Economical Biofuel Production from Biomass Devinder Mahajan AEC 2010 New York Hilton New York November 8-9, 2010 Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers *dmahajan@notes.cc.sunysb.edu Our Location Stony Brook U BNL JFK Airport Acknow ledgments • National Science Foundation (NSF) • U.S Department of Energy (US DOE) • BNL: Program Development • U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) • SBU: Office of Vice President for Research • Industry The Group ( BNL/ SBU) Students - M Eaton (Exxonmobil) - M Anjom (SBU) RA - P Kerkar (CSM) Graduate - Y Hung - Kristine Horvat - S Patel - S Xiong - W Nan - C Okoli - Tshiung-Ming Yeh - Kurian Kuttiyel Undergraduate 5+ students/year (SULI and Battelle Fellowships) Collaborators • BNL • USDA • Columbia U • NRL • Schlumberger Doll Research • Farmingdale State College • NC A&T Biomass Feedstock “Billion ton” study (USDA/DOE) • Agriculture: Corn stover, wheat straw, soybean residue, manure, switchgrass, other energy crops • Forest: Forest thinnings, fuelwoods, logging residues, wood processing and paper mill residues, urban wood wastes Biomass: Structural Units Source: US DOE Cellulose: Polymer and cross-linkages among glucose units Hemicellulose: 5, carbon sugars, sugar acids, acetyl esters- more complicated than cellulose Typical composition Carbohydrates/Sugars: 75% Lignin: 25% Lignin: Phenolic polymers- impart strength to plants “Biorefinery” Concept Biomass to Biofuels: Possible Routes Resources Conversion Product Solid Biomass Combustion Heat Gasification Fuel Gas (Wood, straw) Heat/ CHP Electricity Wet Biomass (organic waste, manure) Pyrolysis Sugar, Starch plants (sugar beet, cereals) Digestion Biogas Hydrolysis & Fermentation Bioethanol Oil Crops (rapeseed, other oils) Market gy Extraction & Esterification Source: Chemical Engineering, October 2006 Bio oil Transportation Fuels Chemicals Biodiesel Commercial Biofuels- Statistics Biodiesel Production (billion gallons): - 0.7 (2008); ~ 0.5* (2009) # of plants: 176 Capacity: billion gallons Ethanol Production (billion gallons): - 10 (2009) Capacity: 12.5 # of plants: 180 # of companies: 150 • 2010 Jobs Bill: $1/ gallon credit!!! * Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Biofuels Production: Challenges Humanitarian • Food vs Fuel debate (recent riots in Asia and other countries with rising fuel prices) • For each 1% rise in food prices, caloric intake among the poor drops 0.5% (World Bank Report) • By 2025, 1.25 billion people will go hungry • ¼ US Production of grain (2009) = Feeding 330 million people Center for Bioenergy R&D Partner Universities • South Dakota School of Mines & Technology • North Carolina State University • U of Hawaii • Stony Brook University • Kansas State University I ndustry Members: 25+ Thrust Areas in BioEnergy BI OGAS SYN GAS BI O- OI L t o FUELS   Pipeline qualit y gas from biogas Transport at ion fuels- MeOH, DME, Renewable diesel 12 Economical Biomass Processing USDA Model • • • • 50 miles Biomass collection Process biomass on-site to bio-oil Transport bio-oil to a nearby facility Produce transportation fuels Task Bio-oil Samples USDA Pyrolysis Pilot unit Two samples: – Corn stover – Soybean straw 14 Task 2: Bio-oil Characterization Physical Property Corn Bio-oil Soy Bio-oil Unstable Unstable 2.37 2.41 @ 40°C 15.24 10.89 @ 100°C 2.41 1.81 Pour Point (°C) -19 -17 Density (@ 25°C) Kg/l 1.23 1.17 Ash (wt%) 0.05 0.06 Carbon (wt%) 40.81 42.64 Oxygen (wt%) 51.21 49.54 Hydrogen (wt%) 7.29 6.94 Sulfur (wt%) 0.15 0.14 Nitrogen (wt%) 0.54 0.74 Stability pH Viscosity (cSt) Composition 15 Batch Unit Task 3: Batch Upgrading Data Bio-Oil Pi (H2) Pf (H2) (ml) (psig) (psig) Soybea n Straw 25 468 430 4.11 PEG(20) Corn Stover 20 467 441 -Al2O3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover 10 201 NiCl2(0.1) -Al2O3(1) PEG(90) Corn Stover 10 199 Catalyst Solvent (g) (ml) NiCl2(0.5) PEG(25) NiCl2(0.4) Run # Sample CO2 CH4 (%) (%) 3.87 8.63 0.99 4.15 3.45 14.4 0.69 206 4.85 5.65 4.69 197 4.81 4.67 8.16 pHi Pi = Initial P at RT, Pf = Final P at RT Run time: hours at 250oC 17 pHf Future Effort in Biofuels Production Challenge • Total Utility w ith Atom Economy • Use non-food feedstocks specificity- Approach Combine new Process Engineering and Process Chemistry concepts Process Chemistry Liquid Phase Low Temperature (LPLT) concept - Single-site or Nano catalysis Process Engineering Heat management - Microchannel Reactors Future: Facilities AERTC CFN Research Facility • New York State funded $45 million at SBU - Build the Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center (AERTC) • NSF C-BERD will be housed in this building Characterization Facilities • Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) - A U.S Department of Energy (US DOE) $85 million facility at BNL Applic a t ion: Long I sla nd's Sm a rt Ene rgy Corridor 20 Summary     Bio-oil sample supply is obtained Physical properties of bio-oils have been measured Run are underway for batch-mode upgrading to liquid biofuels Application to skid-mounted units and smart grid 21 Key Publications Guest Editor: D Mahajan Cle a n Fue ls 2005 M e t ne H ydrat e s 2007 Biom a ss t o Fue ls 2007 Jour na l of Re ne w a ble & Sust a ina ble Ene rgy (J RSE): Spe c ia l Volum e 2010