WoodyBiomassforBiofuels

Woody Biomass Workshop Uki h CA Ukiah, December 2, 2010

JohnR.Shelly,UCBerkeley
University of California Cooperative Extension jshelly@berkeley.edu

JohnShelly,UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,CooperativeExtension

December2,2010

USRenewableFuelDemand
12 10 Bi illion Gal llons 8 6 4 2 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 Year
Source: Renewable Fuels Association 2010

2000

2005

2010

2015

Conversion Pathways
Combustion

Heat Electricity

Biochemical Anaerobic digestion Hydrolysis/Fermentation

Alcohol Other organic chemicals

Thermochemical Pyrolysis Gasification

Heat Electricity Bio-oil Alcohol Other organic chemicals

BiochemicalPotential
Softwoods Hardwoods Cellulose Hemicellulose Lignin Extractives Ash 40 44 % 40-44 25-29 25-31 15 1-5 <1 43 47 % 43-47 25-35 16-24 28 2-8 <1

Biofuels
Solid
Wood( (chips, p chunks,densified) ) Charcoal Ligninresidues

Liquid
Biooil(lowviscositytar) Bio diesel Eth Ethanol l(Eth (Ethyl lalcohol) l h l) Methanol(methylalcohol) Biobutanol(butylalcohol)

Gaseous
Producergas(syngas)

Biofuel Pathways
Feedstocks
Grains: Corn, Wheat, Rice, etc. Sugarbeet Sugarcane g Plant oils, waste fats/oils,
(Algae, not yet commercial) Municipal / Industrial higher moisture: food and processor residues, manures, green and mixed waste, landfill and digester gas, etc.

Conversion
Starch & Sugar Fermentation (biochemical)

Fuel Product
Ethanol (Butanol also possible)

Transesterification (Physicochemical)

Conventional Biodiesel (fatty-acid alkyl-esters)

Anaerobic Digestion

Compressed Biomethane (renewable natural gas)

Cellulosic Ethanol:
Hydrolysis (Enzymatic/Acid) followed by Sugar Fermentation

Hydrogen Fischer-Tropsch Liquids (Hydrocarbons:Diesel/ Gasoline) Methanol or mixed alcohols

Lignocellulosic matls. Stover, cobs, straws, etc. wood residue & Energy crops: switchgrass etc., etc short rotation trees, etc.

Gasification (with post processing) Pyrolysis (Bio-Oils) Hydrotreatment/Cracking (i e Petroleum Refinery (i.e., Operations)

Synthetic Natural Gas (compressed) Diesel and Gasoline

Competing Cellulosic Feedstocks for Biofuels

Cellulose HemiCellulose Energy Cont ent (BTU/lb) Yield (tons/acre) Bulk Den. (kg/m3) Conversion ratio

SwitchSwitch grass Miscanthus

45% 45 35 40 42

45% 24 25 22 25

7 000 7,000 7,700 7,300 7,500 , 8,000

20 60

108 80 40 60

5 5 < 1-1.2

Corn Stover

Bagasse

Wood

10

450

0.8 - 1

t transportation t ti costs t and d energy conversion i ratio ti are impt. i t

BiomasstoETOHTechnologies
Hydrolysis/Fermentation
ConcentratedSulfuricAcid DiluteSulfuricAcid DiluteNitricAcid Enzymatic y

ThermalReduction/ChemicalConversion
Gasification/Catalytic / y Conversion(Fischer ( Tropsch) p )

Hydrolysis/Fermentation
Dilutenitricacidhydrolysis
Separates S the h 5and d6carbon b sugarsf fromthe h lignin

Yeast Y tFermentation F t ti
Convertssugarstoalcohol

John Shelly, UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension

Presented, Bioenery Conf.

WoodyBiomasstoEthanol
Hydrolysis
Concentrated or acid id Dilute acid or Enzyme
25% Lignin 50% Cellulose G-G-G-G

Fermentation
Yeast/othe r organisms Gasoline

Woody Biomass

EE EE

25% Hemicellulose S-S-S-S

SGSG SGSG
Lignin

EEEE EEEE
Lignin

Distillation

Lignin

G = Glucose (a type of sugar) S = Other sugars E = Ethanol Eth l

Low-grade steam

Heat Power Plant

Electricity

Modified from source slide supplied by USDOE NREL

Ethanol
FirstGenerationBiofuel Whatisthebestfeedstock?
Corn CornCellulose(stover) Switchgrass Miscanthus WoodyBiomass Bagasse Others?

Pyrolysis Process
(200 - 600 C)

Biomass

Pyrolysis

Bio-oil tar, condensable liquids

(acidic, high oxygen content, high water content)

Char & Ash (Charcoal) Heat

Gasification Process
(In excess of 600 C)
o

Biomass

Oxidant (air or O2)

Producer gas
a mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen

Pyrolysis
Char & Ash

Char Conversion

Char & Ash

Heat

Ash & Exhaust Gases

2 ~ 0.15 lbs per million BTU NOx ~ 0.05 lbs per million BTU CO ~ 0.05 lbs per million BTU Particulates ~ 0.025 lbs per mill ion BTU

Combustion SO
Heat

Gasification -- Partial Oxidation (controlled amount of air or oxygen) to produce a combustible, gaseous mixture (producer gas) of many compounds that can be used directly as a low BTU fuel gas or cleaned and used to produce higher value products (syngas).

CatalyticConversion ofSyngas
C, O, H

Gasification
T / h Tar/char

Producer gas
Syngas

Catalytic Conversion

Bio-diesel Ethanol

Methanol

ThermochemicalProcessing
CatalyticConversionOptions

Ni, Fe, Cu-Zn Cu-Zn, Cu-Co Cu-ZnO H3PO4, H3PO4 Cr2O3

HYDROGEN ETHANOL, MIXED ALCOHOLS METHANOL, DME OLEFINS LPG FTL Co/K NAPHTHA
UPGRADE

Producer
Ni
SYNGAS

Fe

Gas

KEROSENE/DIESEL LUBES WAXES GASOLINE OXOCHEMICALS g KETONES e.g., AMMONIA SNG

Cu-ZnO Mixed Bases Na, Ca CaCN Ni/Mg

MeOH

Zeolite

Source: NREL

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

Raw Material E E E E E
Harvest Collection

Emissions

Transportation Feedstock Prep. Residue handling

Residue

Process

Product

Pyrolysis
Thermaldecompositionwithoutthepresenceofoxygen>Externalheating Classifiedbytimeandtemperaturetreatment
FastPyrolysis: Rapidconversionofsmallparticles(<2sec.) sec )athighertemperature(900 F).Optimizedforbiooilproduction,minimalcharandgasproduced SlowPyrolysis [carbonization]:lowtemperature(400 750F) longtime(30mins. todays).Biochar,ActivatedCarbon,Charcoal,TorrifiedBiomass.

Pyrolysis

Char (biochar) Bio-oil Pyrolysis gas

To Soils?
Transport

Torrified Biomass

To combustion or gasification Upgrade to liquid fuel

HydrolysisandFermentation
PROS Maturetechnology h l (thinkvodka) Adaptable Ad t bl t tomany feedstocks Supportedbysubsidies CONS Notanideal id l transportationfuel (absorbswater, water difficult totransport) Potentialtocompete withfoodresources Canbeenergynegative

Gasification
PROS CONS Produces d aversatile il f fuel l LowerBTUvalue l than h gasthatcanbe: naturalgasorLPG useddirectlyorstored High Hi hproduction d ti costs t combustedtoproduce (capitalandoperating) heat Tarcontaminatesthe Usedtosynthesizeother gasandmustbe chemicals cleanedforhighervalue Loweremissionsthan uses combustion Charashmay ybea disposalproblem

Pyrolysis
PROS Canproduce d hydrocarbongases, liquids andasolidchar liquids, product(e.g.charcoal) Solidcharhas propertiessimilarto thatofcoalandcanbe usedtocofirecoal combustionunits Relativelylowcosts CONS Bio i oils il h haveahigh hi h moisturecontentanda complexmixoforganic chemicalsandarenot very ycompatible p with otherfueloils Marketsforproducts areuntested

EnergytoDeliver1millionBTU fromSourcetoVehicleFuelTank
Fuel TotalEnergy(BTU) FossilEnergy(BTU)

Gasoline ETOH(cornstarch) ETOH (corn cellulose,stover) ETOH (herbaceous) ETOH(Wood)

240,000 500,000 1,230,000 1,200,000 800,000 1,600,000

240,000 500,000 230,000 100,000 100,000

Source: Argonne National Laboratory, 2001

AWoodScientistsOpinion
Theimportance p of fwoody ybiomassasaraw materialwillincreasedramaticallythrough ybecoming gthechoicefor f the21st century manycarbonbasedmaterials,including partof p fthesolutiontoreplacing p gfossil f fuels f fortransportation. Thechallengeremainstodoiteconomically withapositiveenergybalance. balance