Biomass methanol

Biomass. Methanol can be produced from wood and other types of biomass (see Chemurgy Fuels frombiomass). The prospects for biomass reserves are noted below. 

Among the various products that can be synthesized from biomass, methanol was selected because of its versatile applicability to the electricity, transportation, and chemical sectors. Conversion of methanol from biomass is achieved via oxygen-steam gasification followed by shift conversion and methanol synthesis. Three feedstocks were selected for conversion to methanol—wood residue, corn stover, and furfural residue. Availability of... 

Rottneros AB Commercial Sweden Lignocellulosics, woody biomass Methanol Planned... 

Produced from Biomass. Estimates for methanol produced from biomass indicate (11) that these costs are higher than those of methanol produced from coal. Barring substantial technological improvements, methanol produced from biomass does not appear to be competitive. 

Chemicals have long been manufactured from biomass, especially wood (sHvichemicals), by many different fermentation and thermochemical methods. For example, continuous pyrolysis of wood was used by the Ford Motor Co. in 1929 for the manufacture of various chemicals (Table 20) (47). Wood alcohol (methanol) was manufactured on a large scale by destmctive distillation of wood for many years until the 1930s and early 1940s, when the economics became more favorable for methanol manufacture from fossil fuel-derived synthesis gas. 

The MTG process was developed for synfuel production in response to the 1973 oil crisis and the steep rise in crude prices that followed. Because methanol can be made from any gasiftable carbonaceous source, including coal, natural gas, and biomass, the MTG process provided a new alternative to petroleum for Hquid fuels production. New Zealand, heavily dependent on foreign oil imports, utilizes the MTG process to convert vast offshore reserves of natural gas to gasoline (59). 

Loop reactors are particularly suitable as bioreactors to produce, for example, single-cell protein (96). In this process, single yeast or bacteria ceUs feeding on methanol multiply in aqueous culture broths to form high value biomass at 35—40°C, 20 kg/m ceU concentrations, and specific growth rates of... 

Biofuels. Biofuels are Hquid fuels, primarily used ia transportation (qv), produced from biomass feedstocks. Identified Hquid fuels and blending components iaclude ethanol (qv), methanol (qv), and the ethers ethyl /-butyl ether (ETBE) and methyl /-butyl ether (MTBE), as well as synthetic gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. 

Although biomass-to-methanol technology has yet to be commercialized, laboratory technology suggests that commercial production would be feasible at a cost of about 0.20/L. Assuming that expected improvements ia syagas cleanup and a reduction ia feedstock costs are realized, the costs may be reduced to the target of 0.15/L as early as 1998. 

Ethyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether. Similar to methanol in the MTBE reaction, ethanol can react with isobutylene to produce ETBE. Which alcohol is used to make the ether is highly dependent on the relative cost of the alcohols. To make ethanol more economically competitive with methanol, the federal tax credit for biomass-based ethanol used in fuel also appHes to ethanol used to make ETBE in the United States (24). 

Robert Boyle, an Irish chemist noted for his pioneering experiments on the properties of gases, discovered methanol (CH3OH) in 1661. For many years methanol, known as wood alcohol, was produced by heating hardwoods such as maple, birch, and hickory to high temperatures m the absence of air. The most popular modern method of producing methanol, which IS also the least costly, is from natural gas (methane) by the direct combination of carbon monoxide gas and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. Methanol also can be produced more expensively from oil, coal, and biomass. 

The solution was to introduce methanol into the medium at many points through nozzles in the bioreactor wall. In this way even methanol distribution was achieved, and yields of 0.5 kg biomass per kg methanol can be obtained. 

SAQ 4.15 Use the data in the Resource Material to answer the following question. It is 1977. The bacterial SCP from methanol plant referred to in Table 4.9 does not produce protein at a price that competes with soya protein. By how much would the cost of methanol have to fall in order that the protein from such a plant can be produced competitively with soya protein You can assume i) that the SCP processes referred to in Tables 4.7 and 4.9 to 4.15 are of 2 x 10s tons annual capacity, ii) that yield on methanol is 0.5kg biomass per kg methanol, iii) bacterial SCP contains 60% protein. 

Figure 4.10 Typical effects of yield coefficient on oxygen requirement when only biomass and CO2 are produced (methanol as substrate)...

Biomass production of 94,608 tonnes would require 94,608/0.5 = 189,216 tonnes methanol. 

In principle biomass is a useful fuel for fuel cells many of the technologies discussed above for using biomass as a fuel produce either methane or hydrogen directly and as highlighted below synthesis gas production from biomass for conversion to methanol is an attractive option. Cellulose-based material may be converted to a mixture of hydrogen (70% hydrogen content recovered), CO2 and methane by high-temperature treatment with a nickel catalyst. 

The use of renewable resources for manufacturing specific performance and speciality chemicals, and for fibres to replace synthetic ones, is growing. The driver for this is improved cost/performance. In order to have a major impact on the amount of oil and gas used there is a need to convert biomass into new, large-scale basic feedstocks such as synthesis gas or methanol. Many technical developments in separation science as well as improvements in the overall yield of chemicals are required before renewable feedstocks can compete effectively with oil and gas, but the gap will continue to narrow. 

---