Thermochemical technology, biomass gasification

Catalytica Associates, Inc. is conducting a study to produce a systematic assessment of the role of catalysis in thermochemical conversion via gasification and liquefaction. This study is also examining the potential impact of catalytic concepts under development in other areas, such as coal conversion, and new reactor technology on biomass conversion. 

There are a number of technologies available to convert the biomass into different energy prodnets and these technologies can be classified into thermochemical processes (combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis) and biochemical processes (digestion, fermentation, and enzyme). As the biochemical processes are normally operated in solutions, me of the biomass is not a control parameter. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the thermochemical processes where the biomass me has direct inflnence on the conversion efficiency and the energy product quality. 

Biomass gasification is another type of thermochemical conversion technology, in which any... 

Porosity Change in surface area and porosity during thermochemical processing (devolatilization) Gasification technology highly porous biomass favors uniform temperature and easy diffusion of the reactant/ product (biomass reactivity)... 

Biorefineiy is the process of extracting valuable chemicals and polymers from biomass. The main technologies to produce cheiuicals from biomass are (a) biomass refining or pre-treatment, (b) thermochemical conversion (gasification, pyrolysis,... 

Grover, P. D. (1989). Thermochemical Characterization of Biomass Residues for Gasification, Vol. I. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. 

When perfected, synthesis-gas-to-ethanol technology can be expected to have a large impact on fermentation ethanol markets. It is likely that thermochemical ethanol would then be manufactured at production costs in the same range as methanol from synthesis gas, which can be produced by gasification of virtually any fossil or biomass feedstock. Applying the advances that have been made for conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks via enzymatically catalyzed options, it has been estimated that the production cost of fermentation ethanol... 

This overview reports on the progress achieved over the past five years in thermochemical gasification of biomass and waste recovered fuels. The status of all major projects is reviewed while new trends are briefly presented. The paper concludes with recommendations for fumre R D needs and demonstration requirements while attempting to present a strategy for the commercialisation of gasification technologies. 

Science Applications, Inc., has recently completed a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of producing methanol from biomass feedstocks employing developed gasification technology. This study includes an assessment of biomass availability and the distribution and markets for methanol fuels as well as thermochemical conversion technology. 

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