REPORT GTI PROJECT NUMBER 20847 Expert Analysis of the Concept of Synthetic and/or Bio-LPG Report Issued February 19, 2010 Prepared For Mr. Gregory Kerr Director, Research and Development Propane Education and Research Council 1140 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 1075 Washington, District of Columbia 20036 (202) 452-8975 Ext: 2021 [email protected] GTI Technical Contact Dr. Arun Basu Institute Engineer 847-768-0509 [email protected] Gas Technology Institute 1700 S. Mount Prospect Road Des Plaines, Illinois 60018 www.gastechnology.org I. Legal Notice This information was prepared by Gas Technology Institute (“GTI”) for Propane Education and Research Council. Neither GTI, the members of GTI, the Sponsor(s), nor any person acting on behalf of any of them: a. Makes any warranty or representation, express or implied with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately-owned rights. Conclusions and analysis of information gathered or generated for this report represent GTI's opinion based and with respect to which competent specialists may differ. b. Assumes any liability with respect to the use of, or for any and all damages resulting from the use of, any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report; any other use of, or reliance on, this report by any third party is at the third party's sole risk. Expert Analysis of the Concept of Synthetic and/or Bio-LPG … Page ii II. Table of Contents I. Legal Notice .......................................................................................................................... ii II. Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. iii III. List of Figures and Tables .................................................................................................... vi 1 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose and Background ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Current Worldwide LPG and DME Production Volumes .................................................. 1 1.3 Technologies and Concepts for the Production of Synthetic or Bio-Propane/DME .......... 2 1.3.1 Near-term Technologies for Synthetic Propane ......................................................... 2 1.3.2 Near-term Technologies for Fischer-Tropsch Products .............................................. 2 1.3.3 Near-term technologies for Synthetic DME ................................................................ 2 1.3.4 Other Potential Concepts/Technologies Requiring Significant Additional R&D and Demonstration .......................................................................................................... 3 1.3.4.1 For LPG Synthesis (Four Key Technologies) ....................................................... 3 1.3.4.2 For DME Synthesis (Three Key Technologies) .................................................... 3 1.4 Scoping Economic Cases Analyzed in this Study ............................................................ 4 1.5 Potential New Applications for LPG and DME, Especially for Bio-LPG and Bio- DME ................................................................................................................................ 5 1.6 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.6.1 Bio/Synthetic LPG...................................................................................................... 6 1.6.2 Bio/Synthetic DME ..................................................................................................... 7 1.6.3 Scoping Economics for Bio/Synthetic Propane and DME........................................... 8 1.7 Recommendations........................................................................................................... 8 2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Bio-energy Potential in the U.S. ..................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Potential for Bio-LPG production per Year in the U.S. during 2022 .......................... 12 2.2 Use of DME as a LPG Supplement ............................................................................... 12 2.3 DME Production in China .............................................................................................. 13 2.4 Importance of Co-processing of Biomass plus Coal for Limiting GHG Emissions: Key Literature Data........................................................................................................ 14 2.5 Current LPG Consumption in the U.S. ........................................................................... 14 2.6 A Potential New Market for LPG as a Supplement in Improving Performance of Existing Diesel Engines ................................................................................................. 16 2.7 Use of DME as a LPG Supplement ............................................................................... 17 2.7.1 DME as a LPG Supplement for Home Cooking and Heating Applications. .............. 17 Expert Analysis of the Concept of Synthetic and/or Bio-LPG … Page iii 2.7.2 Use of LPG/DME Blends Fuels for Fleet Vehicles.................................................... 18 2.7.3 Use of DME as a Hydrogen-carrier .......................................................................... 19 2.7.4 Use of LPG/DME Blends in Forklifts ........................................................................ 19 2.7.5 LPG/DME Fuel Partnering with Renewable Energy to Use ...................................... 20 3 Task 1.0 Review of Specific Processes and Methods for the Production of Synthetic LPG and DME ..................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Near-term Technologies ................................................................................................ 21 3.2 Other Potential Concepts/Technologies Requiring Significant Additional R&D and Demonstration ........................................................................................................ 21 3.2.1 For synthesis of LPG ............................................................................................... 21 3.2.2 For synthesis of DME .............................................................................................. 22 3.3 A Few Specific Details on these Novel Concepts (Discussed in Appendix A) ................ 22 4 Task 2.0 Scoping Economics ............................................................................................. 24 4.1 Key Scoping Economics Results ................................................................................... 26 5 Task 3.0 Recommendations on Key Strategies for Commercialization of Promising Options for Synthetic LPG and DME ................................................................................... 29 5.1 LPG-Industry Education ................................................................................................ 29 5.2 Promotion of Basic R&D ................................................................................................ 29 5.2.1 Development of New LPG/DME Markets ................................................................. 29 5.2.2 New LPG Production Processes .............................................................................. 29 6 Task 4.0 Risks/Uncertainties for Relevant Technologies, New Technology R&D Requirements and Relevant Current U.S. Government Programs ....................................... 31 6.1 Risks/Uncertainties of Relevant Technologies for the Production of Synthetic/Bio LPG and DME ............................................................................................................... 31 6.1.1 Near-term Technologies .......................................................................................... 31 6.1.2 Technology Concepts that would need Significant R&D Resources ......................... 31 6.2 Current U.S. Government Programs in Promoting LPG and other Bio-fuel Projects ......................................................................................................................... 32 7 Results and Summary ......................................................................................................... 34 8 References .......................................................................................................................... 36 Appendix A. Key Technologies and Process Concepts for the Production of Synthetic/Bio LPG and DME ........................................................................................ A-1 Appendix B. Specific Literature Information ............................................................................ B-1 Appendix C. Case A -- Scoping Economics for the Co-production of DME plus Electricity using Biomass Gasification .................................................................. C-1 Appendix D. Design Case-B -- Scoping Economics for LPG from Biomass using the Japan Gas Synthesis Concept ....................................................................