Executive SummaryPyrolysis is one of a number of possible paths for converting biomass to higher value products. As such, this technology can play a role in a biorefinery model to expand the suite of product options available from biomass. The intent of this report is to provide the reader with a broad perspective of pyrolysis technology as it relates to converting biomass substrates to a liquid "bio oil" product, and a detailed technical and economic assessment of a fast pyrolysis plant producing 16 tonne/day of bio-oil.The international research community has developed a considerable body of knowledge on the topic over the last twenty-five years. The first part of this report attempts to synthesize much of this information into the relevant issues that are important to advancing pyrolysis technology to commercialization. The most relevant topics fall under the following categories: 1) Technical requirements for converting biomass to high yields of liquid bio-oil 2) Reactor designs capable of meeting technical requirements 3) Bio-oil stability issues and recent findings that address the problem 4) Product specifications and standards that need to be established 5) Applications for using bio-oil in existing or modified end use devices 6) Environmental, safety, and health issues For the bio-oil plant technical and economic analysis, the process is based on fast pyrolysis, which is composed of five major processing areas: feed handling and drying, pyrolysis, char combustion, product recovery, and steam generation. An ASPEN model was developed to simulate the operation of the bio-oil production plant. Based on a 550 tonne/day biomass (wood chips, 50% by mass water content) feed, the cost of the bio-oil for a fully equity financed plant and 10% internal rate of return is $7.62/GJ on a lower heating value (LHV) basis.
In this study, we used Argonne National Laboratory's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model to assess the life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts of four soybean-derived fuels: biodiesel fuel produced via transesterification, two renewable diesel fuels (I and II) produced from different hydrogenation processes, and renewable gasoline produced from catalytic cracking. Five approaches were employed to allocate the coproducts: a displacement approach; two allocation approaches, one based on the energy value and the other based on the market value; and two hybrid approaches that integrated the displacement and allocation methods. The relative rankings of soybean-based fuels in terms of energy and environmental impacts were different under the different approaches, and the reasons were analyzed. Results from the five allocation approaches showed that although the production and combustion of soybean-based fuels might increase total energy use, they could have significant benefits in reducing fossil energy use (>52%), petroleum use (>88%), and GHG emissions (>57%) relative to petroleum fuels. This study emphasized the importance of the methods used to deal with coproduct issues and provided a comprehensive solution for conducting a life-cycle assessment of fuel pathways with multiple coproducts.
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