Advanced Biofuels from Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil
Dr. Tijs Lammens, BTG Bioliquids B.V.
ETIP Bioenergy Workshop Emerging Technologies 4 June 2018, Brussels What is Fast Pyrolysis?
° Thermal cracking of organic material in the absence of oxygen ° Main Product = Liquid Bio-oil ° Process conditions: ° T = 400 - 600 °C ° P = atmospheric ° By products: ° Heat (Steam) ° Power (Electricity)
° Works with most lignocellulosic (non-edible) feedstocks ° Wood chips, sugar cane bagasse, straw, sunflower husk, etc.
Typical Pyrolysis Oil Characteristics
Composition C2H5O2 Density 1100 - 1200 kg/m 3 Heating value 17 - 20 GJ/m 3 • Water content 20 - 30 wt.% • Ash < 0.1 wt.% • Acidity (pH) 2.5 - 3
2 Commercial Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil Production
Heat + P (32 E%)
Wood residue (5 dry t/h)
FPBO 65 wt% / 56 E%
3 Commercial Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil Production Empyro in Hengelo, the Netherlands
Plant Data: Plant Milestones: Capacity 120 tonnes of dry wood residue /day Mar 2015 Start-up Feedstock Wood Residue May 2015 First oil delivery to FrieslandCampina Output per year May 2018 25 mil. liters (30 kton) FPBO produced • Oil 20 million litres Plant now runs steadily at design capacity • Electricity 2,200 MWh • Steam 80,000 tonnes • CO2- eq. reduction 24,000 tonnes 4 Fast Pyrolysis in the Bio-Based Economy
1. Biomass conversion ‹ Local processing 2. FPBO transport 3. Processing & distribution ‹ Returning minerals ‹ Biomass liquified ‹ 12x densified ‹ Centralized ‹ Existing infrastructure
Refinery
Biomass Collection Fast Pyrolysis Conversion Power & Heat Production Biorefinery
FPBO, the link between agricultural & petrochemical industries!
5 Advanced biofuels: standalone & co-processing
Existing infrastructure
to refinery to blending to customer
standalone
co-processing
Co-processing in existing Standalone route, using refinery units (e.g. FCC) new conversion units (e.g. ~ TRL 6, demo scale hydrotreaters) & existing blending infrastructure ~ TRL 5, pilot scale
6 BTL - Technip Collaboration
Rolling out Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil technology & commercial production: ° Complete turnkey (EPC) delivery of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil (FPBO) units ° Operational support for commercial production of pyrolysis oil ° About TechnipFMC: ° Global footprint with ~45,000 people in 45 Countries ° Technology leader in Hydrogen, Ethylene, Refining & Petrochemical ° >35 years experience in development, design and construction of its own (S&W) FCC technology 7 Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit in a refinery
8 Co-FCC of FPBO, how does it work?
Commercial Typical FCC scheme: FCC yields: 4 wt%
14 wt%
Coke: 5 wt% 50 wt% 20 wt%
} 7 wt% ‘Bottoms’
Figure adapted from U.S. Energy Information Administration
9 Co-FCC of FPBO, what happens to the yields?
Co-processing 5-10 wt-% FPBO has little impact on yields of the wanted products:
: 74 wt-% : 74 wt-% : 71 wt-%
Data: Petrobras 2015 & 2017, using FPBO from both BTG & Ensyn in a 150 kg/h FCC demo unit 10 Co-FCC of FPBO, where does the biomass go?
° Half of the mass of FPBO comes from oxygen atoms, in water or oxygenates:
10% co-FCC
° About 15% of the FPBO (30% of the bio-C) becomes FCC-gasoline + diesel.
° The rest of the bio-C is not lost, and still reduces the use of crude oil for other products (e.g. LPG, olefins, marine fuels, ...) and energy!
° Other products eligible for carbon credits? Mass-balance system?
Data: Petrobras 2015, using FPBO from BTG in a 150 kg/h FCC demo unit 11 Costs of technologies for advanced biofuels
Source: Sustainable Transport Forum, Sub Group on Advanced Biofuels, 2017, final report 12 Summary & perspectives
° Traditional bio-oils have made a great inroad to refining industry. ° Government mandate for advanced biofuels requires refiners to look at an alternative way to meeting the obligations. ° Co-processing crude Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil in FCC units can be a viable way to meet renewable fuel requirements, with little to no impact on refinery operations when co-processing small shares (5-10 wt-%). ° Co-processing higher FPBO shares to get more bio-C in the products can be achieved with a mild FPBO hydrotreatment step.* ° It is feasible to retrofit existing FCC units at low implement capital cost, resulting in relatively low production price of advanced biofuels. ° EU FCC capacity is about 140 Mton/y. Co-processing 10 wt-% FPBO in these units provides a potential for >500 Empyro-sized FPBO plants.
* Venderbosch et al. 2018, paper in preparation
13 Why adv. biofuels from Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil?
° Decouple biomass resource from location and scale of application
° Works with a variety of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks
° Produces a homogeneous liquid, a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels
° Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil is easier to store and transport than solid biomass due to significant volume reduction (on average 12 X)
° High overall efficiency of > 85%
° Versatile application: Heat, power and transportation fuels
° Utilize existing fossil fuel infrastructure:
• Pyrolysis oil provides a viable link between the agriculture and (petro-) chemical industry. • Renewable feedstock for petrochemical industry in the production of advanced biofuels .
14 Thank you!
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