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Title: Large Scale Production of Synthetic Fuels


1
Large Scale Production of Synthetic Fuels
  • Dr. Sam Heintz
  • Southern Arkansas University

2
  • My father rode a camel.
  • I drive a car.
  • My son will fly a jet.
  • My grandson will ride a camel.
  • Arab saying.

3
  • Daily world demand of oil is over 80 billion
    barrels a day.
  • Approximately ¼ of this demand is in U.S.
  • World oil supplies are at historic peak of
    maximum production.
  • Oil production in 18 production countries have
    passed their peak and declining.
  • China is driving oil-demand due to higher levels
    of economic activity.

4
  • The United States turned its back on a sensible
    energy policy in 1980 and opted for endless
    growth.
  • The economists all think that if you show up at
    the cashiers cage with enough currency, God will
    put more oil in the ground
  • Matt Crensen, Associated Press, May 28, 2005

5
  • In 1956, a geologist named M. King Hulbert
    predicted that U.S. production would peak in
    1970. He was right. U.S. oil production did
    peak in 1970 and has declined ever since.

6
August 8, 2005
  • Energy Policy Act (EPACT) mandates the U.S. use a
    minimum of 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel in
    2006.
  • Increases annually to 7.5 billion gallons in
    2012.
  • Includes 150 million in 2007 for cellulosic
    ethanol research.

7
January 31, 2006. State of the Union Address.
  • We will also fund additional research in
    cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not
    just from corn but from wood chips and stalks or
    switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind
    of ethanol practical and competitive within six
    years.

8
U.S. Fuel Ethanol Production
  • Currently 101 ethanol production facilities in
    the U.S. Nearly half are farmer-owned
    cooperatives.
  • At least 30 new ethanol plants are under
    construction.
  • Dozens more are in various stages of planning.

9
U.S. Fuel Ethanol Production
  • 1990 0.900 billion gallons
  • 1995 1.400 billion gallons
  • 2000 1.630 billion gallons
  • 2005 3.904 billion gallons
  • 2006 4.5 billion gallons (estimated)
  • 2007 6.4 billion gallons (estimated)
  • Source US Energy Information Adm.

10
  • There are 6 million U.S. vehicles, called
    flexible-fuel vehicles, on the road designed to
    use E85.
  • Most run on gasoline because there isnt enough
    E85 pumps and many people dont know theyre
    driving a flex-fuel vehicle.
  • Source National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition

11
Did you know?
  • The Ford Model T had a carburetor adjustment to
    switch between gasoline and ethanol. This was
    removed as cheap, plentiful gasoline became
    readily available.

12
How is Ethanol Made?Traditional Process
  • Milling. Mechanically grinding the corn as
    finely as practical.
  • Liquefaction. Meal is mixed with water and
    enzyme. Heat is applied (120-150 C). Converts
    starch molecules to complex sugars.
  • Saccharification. Mash is cooled and secondary
    enzyme is added to break down complex sugars into
    simple sugars.

13
  • Fermentation. Yeast is added to ferment the
    sugars to ethanol and carbon dioxide. Could be
    continuous or batch operation.
  • Distillation. Liquid and solids are separated.
    The fermented mash contains about 10 ethanol.
    It is distilled to about 96 strength.

14
  • Dehydration. The remaining water is removed by
    molecular sieve. Anhydrous ethanol results (200
    proof).
  • Denaturing. Ethanol is made unfit for human
    consumption with 2 5 gasoline.
  • Co-products. Distillers grain and carbon
    dioxide.
  • Distillation is usually fueled by natural gas,
    petroleum fuels, or coal.

15
Batch vs. Continuous
  • Problems with Batch
  • Low conversion of feed
  • Low concentration of product
  • Product/water/feed need separating
  • Its a batch process.

16
Continuous Processing
  • Usually cells are fixed within reactors and feed
    is slowly pumped pass the yeast.
  • Ethanol is continuously removed from yeast
    colony. Colony can live for weeks without new
    inoculation.
  • Reactors are arranged so that exit stream from
    one becomes feed to next. This brings ethanol
    concentration up to about 10.

17
  • A gallon of ethanol replaces only 2/3 of a gallon
    of gas and making it requires the fossil energy
    in about 1/2 gallon of gasoline. So we must make
    6 gallons of ethanol to save the fossil energy in
    one gallon of gas.
  • It takes 1.5 gallons of ethanol to give the
    energy in 1 gallon of gasoline.
  • Ethanol cannot be added to gasoline at refinery
    and pumped through pipeline because it tends to
    corrode the pipes.

18
Corn ethanol is good for them but expensive for
us.
  • Subsidy for ethanol production is 0.51/gallon,
    plus a small-producers credit of 0.10/gallon for
    producers of up to 60 million gallons per year.
  • Total subsidy for 2005 was estimated to be 1.49
    billion (ADM received 500 million).

19
  • Adding up the energy costs of corn production and
    its conversion to ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are
    needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon
    of ethanol has an energy value of 77,000 BTUs.
  • Dr. Roger Segelken, Cornell University March
    13, 2006.

20
  • Global market for biofuels such as cellulosic
    ethanol will grow to exceed 10 billion by 2012.
  • Enews Bulletin, May 2005

21
Cellulosic Ethanol
  • Can be produced from a wide variety of cellulosic
    biomass feedstocks including
  • Agricultural waste
  • (corn stover, cereal straws, sugarcane)
  • Plant waste from industrial processes
  • (sawdust, wood chips, paper pulp)
  • Energy crops
  • (switchgrass)

22
Two Processing Options
  • Acid hydrolysis breaks down complex
    carbohydrates into simple sugars.
  • Enzymatic hydrolysis a pretreatment process
    reduces the size of the material, then employs
    enzymes to convert cellulosic biomass to
    fermentable sugars.

23
Positive Environmental Benefits
  • Cellulosic ethanol production substitutes biomass
    for fossil fuels to produce heat.
  • Cellulosic ethanol showed greenhouse gas emission
    reductions of about 80 over gasoline production.
  • Greenhouse gases produced are offset by the CO2
    absorbed by the biomass as it grows.
  • Source Argonne National Laboratories.

24
Switchgrass
  • Excellent feedstock for cellulosic ethanol.
  • Has a deep root system to prevent erosion and
    helps builds soil fertility.
  • Uses water efficiently.
  • Does not need a lot of fertilizers or pesticides.
  • Source National Renewable Energy Lab.

25
Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol
  • High cost of cellulose enzymes is key barrier to
    economic production.
  • Enzymes did cost 5.00 per gallon of ethanol.
  • Now enzyme costs 0.10 - 0.20.

26
Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol
  • Production facility cost 200 - 250 million to
    build.
  • Because of variety of feedstocks, biorefineries
    require a larger range of processing
    technologies.
  • Because biomass contains a lower energy density,
    biorefineries need to be close to feedstock
    sources.

27
The Future
  • By 2050, U.S. will consume 180 to 290 billion
    gallons of gasoline, depending on vehicle
    efficiency.
  • 50 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol can be
    produced from waste streams.
  • Switchgrass, grown on 114 million acres, can
    produce 165 billion gallons of ethanol,
    equivalent to 108 billion gallons of gasoline.

28
  • About 96 of energy used in ethanol production is
    consumed in the distillation step. Can the step
    be replaced with another separation process?
  • How about liquid/liquid extraction?

29
Liquid-Liquid Extraction
  • Many solvents work great at removing the ethanol
    from the fermentation broth.
  • Would like to recycle the raffinate after
    extraction to further reduce costs and increase
    production efficiency.
  • New problem most solvents are not biocompatible
    with the yeast.
  • New problem Solvents are expensive. How to
    separate the ethanol from the solvent?

30
First extraction design
31
Design and Modification
  • Distillation to a concentration of 85 ethanol
    only uses about 30 of the energy required to
    distilled to 93 ethanol concentration.
  • Gasoline makes a good solvent for extraction.
    Ethanol recovery as high as 99 is achievable
    with enough equilibrium stages.

32
Second extraction design
33
What is Biodiesel Fuel?
  • Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced from
    domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel
    contains no petroleum but can be blended at any
    level with petroleum. It is biodegradable,
    nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and
    aromatics.

34
Did you know?
  • Rudolf Diesel employed peanut oil to power one
    of his engines at the Paris Exposition of 1900.

35
Mud Puddle Chemistry
  • Biodiesel is easy to make. The feedstock is
    filtered, mixed with an alcohol (methanol), and
    a catalyst (sodium or potassium hydroxide). The
    major products are a methyl ester (biodiesel) and
    glycerol. The chemical process is called
    transesterification.

36
Vegetable Oil YieldsGal/Acre
  • Corn 18 Cotton 35
  • Soybean 48 Rice 88
  • Sunflowers 102 Peanuts 113
  • Olives 129 Pecan nuts 191
  • Avocado 282 Oil Palm 635
  • Source USDA/NASS

37
Arkansas Crop Report
  • 46 of U.S. production of rice.
  • 10 of U.S. production of cotton.
  • 4 of U.S. production of soybean.
  • 0.4 of U.S. production of corn.

38
Advantages of Base Catalyzed Reaction
  • Low Temperature (150 F)
  • High Conversion (98)
  • Direct Conversion to Methyl Ester.
  • Batch reaction but reaction time is only about a
    day.
  • Continuous reaction can be done fairly easily.

39
Nothing is Wasted
  • Process Input
  • Oil (Fatty Acid) 87
  • Methanol 12
  • Potassium Hydroxide 1
  • Process Output
  • Methyl Ester 86
  • Glycerine 9
  • Methanol 4
  • By-Product (Fertilizer) 1

40
Advantages of Biodiesel
  • Less toxic than table salt.
  • Biogrades as fast as sugar.
  • Can be used in diesel engines with little or no
    modification.
  • There is an excess production of soybeans in the
    U.S. This is an economical way to utilize the
    surplus.

41
Advantages of Biodiesel
  • Compared to petroleum diesel, biodiesel produces
    less particulate matter, CO, unburned
    hydrocarbons, and SO2.
  • Biodiesel can be used in combination with heating
    oil to heat residential and industrial building.
  • Even B01 can provide up to 65 increase in
    lubricity in distillate fuels.

42
Advantages of Biodiesel
  • 8. Is the only alternative fuel to fully complete
    the health effects testing required under 1990
    CAAA.
  • Produced under industry specifications in ASTM
    D6751.
  • Shows similar fuel consumption, horsepower, and
    torque as conventional diesel fuels.

43
Disadvantages of Biodiesel
  • Cost. About 2.95 per gallon to make.
  • It still takes energy to produce biodiesel from
    crops.
  • Pure biodiesel will soften and degrade certain
    types of elastomers and rubber compounds over
    time.
  • Biodiesel does produce more nitrogen oxides than
    petroleum diesel.

44
Disadvantages of Biodiesel
  • 5. Biodiesel cleans the dirt from engines or
    pipelines after a period of operation with
    petroleum diesel. The dirt can collect in the
    fuel filter and clog it.
  • 6. Cold weather can cloud and even gel biodiesel.
  • 7. Distribution infrastructure in not in place.

45
Batesville, Arkansas
46
Eastman Chemicals
47
Chemical Plant
48
White River
49
Equilibrium Pond
50
Uses Four Different Feedstocks
  • Cottonseed oil
  • Soybean oil
  • Poultry fat
  • Pork lard

51
Different Biodiesel Products
52
  • Current production is 18 million gallons annually
    (and increasing).
  • Will be 25 million gallons by end of 2006.
  • Plant capability is 100 million gallons.
  • Selling every drop to fleets of vehicles.
  • No distribution system, no piping of biodiesel.

53
  • Sells B100 at 2.94 a gallon.
  • Sells B99.9 at 1.95 a gallon.
  • For on-road use, users must pay additional state
    tax of 0.42 a gallon.
  • Farmers or off-road, no state tax.

54
CGI
55
Biodiesel Plant
56
Rail Yard
57
3000 to 4000 Gallon Tanks
58
Reaction Vessel
59
Truck Loading Station
60
Some notes on production
  • Eastman uses glycerine as fuel.
  • Eastman expresses concerns that glycerine from
    other manufacturers may contain methanol, which
    makes it a hazardous waste.
  • ASTM D 6751 applies only to B100. B99.9 is not
    covered by standard.

61
Potlatch Corporation
  • Corporate Office is in Spokane, Washington
  • Pulp and paperboard mill near McGehee, Arkansas
  • First site in country for new type of
    biorefinery.
  • Part of DOE grant program

62
Potlatch Process
63
Potlatch Process
  • Uses thermochemical process to produce a
    synthetic gas from wood and agricultural waste.
  • Once converted to a liquid, is sold to petroleum
    refinery for transportation fuel.
  • Part of syngas is used as fuel within mill and
    waste heat is used to generate electricity
    on-site.

64
  • Potlatch estimates that it reduces its
  • Natural gas usage by 1.6 billion cubic feet or
    80 percent.
  • Purchased electricity by 80,000 megawatt hours
    annually or 60 percent.
  • Source Arkansas Gazette, Jan. 8, 2006
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