Techno-economic evaluation of a new Biomass-to-Liquid process concept for reduced biofuel production cost

Abstract

Introduction 2nd generation biofuels have gained in importance in recent years, since they enable greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector on a larger scale. One promising way to produce alternative fuels is the Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) process based on Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, which produces synthetic hydrocarbons that could directly be used as drop-in fuels in the existing infrastructure. One major issue defining the feasibility of this process is the fuel production cost. COMSYN Project Within the European COMSYN project (Compact Gasification and Synthesis process for Transport Fuels), a new BtL process concept is developed that aims to reduce biofuel production cost by up to 35 % compared to alternative routes. To achieve these cost reductions experimental data for a new gasification concept (developed from VTT) as well as a highly efficient FT reactor (developed from INERATEC) are implemented into various flowsheet models. To determine the feasibility of these process concepts, a techno-economic assessment is carried out. The results of the preliminary study are presented. So far three process concepts with different configurations have been developed: one base case with steam gasification, autothermal reforming and once-through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a second case with CO2 removal prior to the FT reactor (to improve kinetics) and a third case with an externally heated reformer (no air supply, to improve efficiency). Additionally, one-stage vs. two-stage Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is analyzed. Each configuration will be heat integrated, evaluated and compared, to determine the key processes which enable highest energy efficiency and economic cost saving potentials.