Biomass as Feedstock

Ethanol produced from biomass material such as sugarcane, algae or cellulose is another route to ethylene utilizing an ethanol dehydration step  

Unlike ethanol production from corn, ethanol manufactured from sugarcane may be relatively cost-effective as an ethylene feedstock. Dow Chemical announced a sugarcane-to-polyethylene project in Brazil in 2007 that will play a role in evaluating the process economics in the manufacture of polyethylene from a biomass material. 

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The present chapter discusses aspects, known by the authors, of (a) biomass as feedstock, (b) the concept of bio-refinery, (c) thermochemical routes from lignocellulosic biomass to fuels, and (d) the contribution of catalytic technology. The main focus will be on the catalytic conversion of fast pyrolysis oil into fuels with regard to problems encountered currently and the challenges for future research and development. 

As discussed in this book (Chapter 2, for example) a main difference between fossil fuels and biomass as feedstocks is that in the former case the functionalization of base chemicals obtained from the oil (ethylene, propylene, aromatics, etc.) occurs essentially by introduction of heteroatoms, while in the case of biomass-derived based chemicals (glycerol, for example) it is necessary to eliminate heteroatoms (oxygen, in particular). Consequently, the catalysts required to develop a petrochemistry based on bio-derived raw materials need to be discovered and cannot simply be translated from existing ones, even if the knowledge accumulated over many years will make this discovery process much faster than that involved in developing the petrochemical catalytic routes. 

Derived from industry estimates for the increasing use of biomass as feedstock. After calculating marginal and overall cost savings, we multiplied the result by typical... 

The use of organometallic rhenium complexes has found a very broad scope as oxidation catalysts as described in the previous section, making MTO the catalyst of choice for many oxidation reactions of olefins. Interestingly, MTO and related rhenium compounds have also found application in the reverse reaction, the deoxygenation of alcohols and diols. Especially in recent years, this reaction has attracted much attention due to the increased interest in the use of biomass as feedstock for the chemical industry. This section provides an overview of the use of rhenium-based catalysts in the deoxygenation reaction of renewables. 

USDOE and USDA, Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply (2005). http //wwwl.eere. en-ergy.gov/biomass/pdfs/final billionton vision report2.pdf... 

With biomass as feedstock, completely new strategies are needed to reduce the oxygen content and the degree of functionalization in biomass to reach the levels of common fuels. Alternatively, the fuel basis can be switched to fuels more similar to the oxygen-rich biomass (e.g. bioethanol). 

Funding the research on that topic has led to several major studies examining the potential of biomass as feedstock for chemical production. This includes the identification of possible intermediate chemicals, state-of-the-art processes for their production, and their current economic chances. Examples of these studies are the Top Value-Added Chemicals from Biomass [8] and, in Europe, the BREW project [9]. 

Biomass as feedstock to syngas K. Tomishige, M. Asadullah, and K. Kuni-mori, Catalysis Today 2004, 89, 389 M. Rohde, D. Unruh, P. Pias, K-W. Lee, and G. Schaub, Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 2004, 153 (Carbon Dioxide Utilization for Global Sustainability), 97. 

Biomass as Feedstock for Synthetic Organic Chemicals TABLE 13.6 (Continued)... 

A number of reviews of the synthesis of LA from various carbohydrate sources have been published [169-173]. Approaches vary considerably in terms of selectivity and overall yield, and the reader is directed to these accounts if a detailed treatment is sought. However, given that the only competitive process for the production of LA would use biomass as feedstock, we provide in Table 2 a survey of the highest yielding approaches of this description. 

Answer Both gasifiers use the same biomass as feedstock (same LHVbiomass). and both produce a gas with the same LHVgas- Therefore, the two gases have the same CGE. The temperature of each gas is irrelevant. 

Perlack, R.D, Wright, L.L.,Turhollow, A.F., Graham, R.L., Stokes, B.J. Erbach, D.C. Biomass as feedstock for a bioenergy and bioproducts industry the technical feasibility of a billion-ton annual supply. DTIC Document, 2005. 

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