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Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Ex Situ Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2019 State-of-Technology Cases
This technical report describes the supply chain sustainability analysis (SCSAs) for the production of renewable hydrocarbon transportation fuels via a range of conversion technologies: (1) renewable high octane gasoline (HOG) via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of woody lignocellulosic biomass (note that the IDL pathway in this SCSA represents the syngas conversion design in the 2019 SOT); (2) renewable gasoline (RG) and diesel (RD) blendstocks via ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of woody lignocellulosic biomass; (3) RD via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet sludge from a wastewater treatment plant; (4) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via biochemical conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass; (5) renewable diesel via HTL of a blend of algae and woody biomass; and (6) renewable diesel via combined algae processing (CAP). This technical report focuses on the environmental performance of these six biofuel production pathways in their 2019 SOT cases. The results of these renewable hydrocarbon fuel pathways in these SCSA analyses update those for the respective 2018 SOT cases. They also provide an opportunity to examine the impact of technology improvements in both biomass feedstock production and biofuel production that have been achieved in 2019 SOTs on the sustainability performance of these renewable transportation fuels, and they reflect updates to Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model, which was released in October 2019. These GREET updates include the production of natural gas, electricity, and petroleum-based fuels that can influence biofuels’ supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) (CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O) emissions, water consumption, and air pollutant emissions. GHG emissions, water consumption, and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) emissions are the main sustainability metrics assessed in this analysis. In this analysis, we define water consumption as the amount of water withdrawn from a freshwater source that is not returned (or returnable) to a freshwater source at the same level of quality. Life-cycle fossil energy consumption and net energy balance, which is the life-cycle fossil energy consumption deducted from the renewable biofuel energy produced, are also assessed.
Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Ex Situ Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2020 State-of-Technology Cases
This technical report describes the SCSAs for the production of renewable hydrocarbon transportation fuels via a range of conversion technologies in the 2020 SOTs: (1) renewable high octane gasoline (HOG) via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of woody lignocellulosic biomass (note that the IDL pathway in this SCSA represents the syngas conversion design); (2) renewable gasoline (RG) and diesel (RD) blendstocks via ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of woody lignocellulosic biomass; (3) RD via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet sludge from a wastewater treatment plant; (4) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via biochemical conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass; (5) renewable diesel via HTL of a blend of algae and woody biomass; and (6) renewable diesel via combined algae processing (CAP). This technical report focuses on the environmental performance of these six biofuel production pathways in their 2020 SOT cases. The results of these renewable hydrocarbon fuel pathways in these SCSA analyses update those for the respective 2019 SOT cases. They also provide an opportunity to examine the impact of technology improvements in both biomass feedstock production and biofuel production that have been achieved in 2020 SOTs on the sustainability performance of these renewable transportation fuels. The SCSA results also reflect updates to Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET ® ) model, which was released in October 2020. These GREET updates include the production of natural gas, electricity, and petroleum-based fuels that can influence biofuels’ supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O) emissions, water consumption, and air pollutant emissions. GHG emissions, water consumption, and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) emissions are the main sustainability metrics assessed in this analysis. In this analysis, we define water consumption as the amount of water withdrawn from a freshwater source that is not returned (or returnable) to a freshwater source at the same level of quality. Life-cycle fossil energy consumption and net energy balance, which is the life-cycle fossil energy consumption deducted from the renewable biofuel energy produced, are also assessed.
Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Ex Situ Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2020 State-of-Technology Cases
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to develop and deploy technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through public and private partnerships (U.S. Department of Energy, 2016). BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics and conversion technologies to produce biofuels. There are two general types of TEAs: A design case outlines a target case (future projection) for a particular biofuel pathway. It enables identification of data gaps and research and development needs and provides goals and benchmarks against which technology progress is assessed. A state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual results at current experimental scales relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available. In addition to developing a TEA for a pathway of interest, BETO also performs a supply chain sustainability analysis (SCSA). The SCSA takes the life-cycle analysis approach that BETO has been supporting for about 20 years. It enables BETO to identify energy consumption, environmental, and sustainability issues that may be associated with biofuel production. Approaches to mitigate these issues can then be developed. Additionally, the SCSA allows for comparison of energy and environmental impacts across biofuel pathways in BETO’s research and development portfolio. This technical report describes the SCSAs for the production of renewable hydrocarbon transportation fuels via a range of conversion technologies in the 2020 SOTs: (1) renewable high octane gasoline (HOG) via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of woody lignocellulosic biomass (note that the IDL pathway in this SCSA represents the syngas conversion design [Harris et al. 2021]); (2) renewable gasoline (RG) and diesel (RD) blendstocks via ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of woody lignocellulosic biomass [Abhijit et al. 2021]; (3) RD via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet sludge from a wastewater treatment plant; (4) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via biochemical conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass (Davis et al. 2021; Lin et al. 2021); (5) renewable diesel via HTL of a blend of algae (Davis and Klein, 2021) and woody biomass (Hartley et al. 2020); and (6) renewable diesel via combined algae processing (CAP) (Wiatrowski and Davis, 2021). This technical report focuses on the environmental performance of these six biofuel production pathways in their 2020 SOT cases. The results of these renewable hydrocarbon fuel pathways in these SCSA analyses update those for the respective 2019 SOT cases (Cai et al. 2020). They also provide an opportunity to examine the impact of technology improvements in both biomass feedstock production and biofuel production that have been achieved in 2020 SOTs on the sustainability performance of these renewable transportation fuels. The SCSA results also reflect updates to Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET®) model, which was released in October 2020 (Wang et al. 2020). These GREET updates include the production of natural gas, electricity, and petroleum-based fuels that can influence biofuels’ supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O) emissions, water consumption, and air pollutant emissions. GHG emissions, water consumption, and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) emissions are the main sustainability metrics assessed in this analysis. In this analysis, we define water consumption as the amount of water withdrawn from a freshwater source that is not returned (or returnable) to a freshwater source at the same level of quality. Life-cycle fossil energy consumption and net energy balance, which is the life-cycle fossil energy consumption deducted from the renewable biofuel energy produced, are also assessed.
A Critical Review of Challenges Faced by Converting Food Waste to Bioenergy Through Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Liquefaction
Here, the conventional approaches for handling food waste has been incineration, composting, landfilling, and anaerobic digestion for producing biogas. In light of organic waste bans and newly discovered presence of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in food, food packaging materials, and compost, this review provides a critical summary of what has been investigated and reported and what needs to be considered when choosing suitable pathways for food waste. In addition to the fundamental principles inherent to anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction, challenges for each process are identified followed by discussion of potential solutions to resolve the bottlenecks.
Techno-economic uncertainty analysis of wet waste-to-biocrude via hydrothermal liquefaction
Not Available
Pilot-Scale Continuous Plug-Flow Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Food Waste for Biocrude Production
Pilot-scale hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biowaste is a critical step toward commercialization of the HTL technology. Despite many HTL studies conducted with wet biomass, including food waste, few were performed with a pilot-scale continuous plug-flow reactor (PFR), with the biocrude yield and quality analysis based on dewatering (ASTM D2892 Annex X1). This paper describes the development and performance evaluation of a mobile pilot-scale HTL continuous PFR, with a processing capacity of 60 L/h of wet feedstock and 6 L/h of biocrude production. The reactor system was designed for reaction conditions of up to 325 °C and 17.25 MPa. The reactor has a volume of 28.88 L with an additional counterflow heat exchanger volume of 18.07 L. Two types of food wastes, from a food processing plant and grocery store, were processed at 280 °C for 30 min, producing biocrude oil yields of 52.19 and 47.06 wt %, energy recoveries of 68.17 and 70.77%, and carbon recoveries of 66.91 and 64.78%, respectively. Furthermore, due to its high feedstock capacity and reaction volume, large amounts of biocrude oil and post-HTL wastewater (PHW) were obtained from this pilot-scale reactor to allow downstream research on upgrading biocrude oil for transportation fuel as well as PHW treatment and nutrient recovery.
Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2022 State-of-Technology Cases
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to develop and deploy technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through public and private partnerships. BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics and conversion technologies to produce biofuels. There are two general types of TEAs: A design case outlines a target case (future projection) for a particular biofuel pathway. It informs R&D priorities by identifying areas in need of improvement, tracks sustainability impact of R&D, and provides goals and benchmarks against which technology progress is assessed. A state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual results at current experimental scales relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available. In addition to developing a TEA for a pathway of interest, BETO also performs a supply chain sustainability analysis (SCSA). The SCSA takes the life-cycle analysis approach that BETO has been supporting for over 20 years. It enables BETO to identify energy consumption, environmental, and sustainability issues that may be associated with biofuel production. Approaches to mitigating these issues can then be developed. Additionally, the SCSA allows for comparison of energy and environmental impacts across biofuel pathways in BETO's research and development portfolio. This technical report describes the SCSAs for the production of renewable hydrocarbon transportation fuels via a range of conversion technologies in the 2022 SOTs: (1) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet sludge from a wastewater treatment plant; (2) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via biochemical conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass; (3) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via HTL of an algae/woody biomass blend; and (4) renewable hydrocarbon fuels via combined algae processing (CAP).
Cryogenic In-Situ Liquefaction for Landers “Brassboard” Liquefaction Testing Series
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Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2021 State-of-Technology Cases
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to develop and deploy technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through public and private partnerships. BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics and conversion technologies to produce biofuels. There are two general types of TEAs: A design case outlines a target case (future projection) for a particular biofuel pathway. It informs R&D priorities by identifying areas in need of improvement, tracks sustainability impact of R&D, and provides goals and benchmarks against which technology progress is assessed. A state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual results at current experimental scales relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available.
Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2021 State-of-Technology Cases
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to develop and deploy technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through public and private partnerships. BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics and conversion technologies to produce biofuels. There are two general types of TEAs: A design case outlines a target case (future projection) for a particular biofuel pathway. It informs R&D priorities by identifying areas in need of improvement, tracks sustainability impact of R&D, and provides goals and benchmarks against which technology progress is assessed. A state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual results at current experimental scales relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available.
Transient Liquefaction on the Lunar or Martian Surface Operational Demonstration
The Cryogenic Fluid In-situ Liquefaction for Landers (CryoFILL) activity has been investigating concepts for the liquefaction of cryogenic fluids produced on the surface of the Moon and Mars. Liquefaction testing of oxygen in a scaled lander tank using an integrated, industrial cryocooler system was completed. The testing covered the determination of the nominal performance operation of the system, constant liquefaction performance, and transient liquefaction performance. The goal of the testing was to demonstrate cryogenic liquefaction operational capabilities on the Lunar and Martian surfaces for landers and In Situ Resource Utilization. The testing met all key performance parameter threshold values including liquefaction rate (demonstrated 1.6 kg/hr compared to threshold of 1.1 kg/hr), number of variables as transient (goal of 3: liquefaction flow, environmental temperature, and cryocooler input power – all demonstrated), and number of fill levels (goal of 3: < 5%, 50%, and 90% - all demonstrated). Key testing results from oxygen liquefaction testing will be discussed including sensitivities provided by the analysis team.
Effect of biomass liquefaction on glucose and xylose prices predicted by National Renewable Energy Laboratory biochemical sugar model
Abstract The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published a model in 2017 that enables the minimum selling price of lignocellulosic sugar to be calculated. The model can be modified to suit any biomass feedstock and operational design. In the present case, the model is used to understand the economics of a process configuration that incorporates liquefaction as a preprocessing step in corn‐stover‐fed biorefinery. This study demonstrates a quantitative approach utilizing an existing biorefinery setup to simulate the biomass liquefaction technique while estimating the price of the resulting sugar product. The objective is to understand whether the addition of liquefaction methodology – and the substitution of acid pretreatment – can reduce the cost of lignocellulosic sugars. The reason for setting up a liquefaction unit at the start is to reduce the yield stress of biomass slurry so that the flow remains unrestricted downstream. The liquefaction process is also unique because it uses no chemicals and saves the cost of pretreatment. The pretreatment step is bypassed because the output of liquefaction can be fed into enzyme hydrolysis just after simple cooking. The liquefaction process can be performed in three modes: enzyme, enzyme mimetic, and a combination of enzyme and enzyme mimetic. The results from the BC1707 model indicate the minimum cost for the enzyme liquefaction route. © 2022 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Gravitational Effects on Liquefaction Systems for Lunar and Mars xploration
There is interest at NASA, other space agencies, and industry, in the liquefaction of fluids produced through in-situ processes on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. A multi-center team at NASA recently considered multiple different refrigeration cycles and refrigeration integration methodologies and how these might fit into early liquefaction plants for NASA's exploration initiatives. The rate of liquefaction for these initiatives is quite slow in comparison to large scale terrestrial applications. These studies concluded that, for both structural and heat spreading reasons, integrating the refrigeration tubing on the surface of the storage tank wall is an attractive path to pursue in the near term. An analysis is performed of the condensation processes within the tank to determine the sensitivity of liquefaction to gravitational effects. The heat transfer mechanisms include forced convection heat removal to the refrigeration system (or cryocooler), conduction through the tank wall heat exchanger, and condensation on the inner tank wall. Gravity affects the liquefaction process via condensate liquid drainage, natural convection in the ullage, and the shape of the liquid-vapor interface in the tank. Analysis of these mechanisms shows that while there is some sensitivity to gravitational level in general, within the bounds of current interest (rate of liquefaction appropriate to Lunar and Martian applications), this sensitivity of liquefaction to gravity is quite small. Thus, system level testing on the Earth should suffice for the performance prediction and demonstration of liquefaction operations as applicable to lunar and Martian applications.
Gravitational Effects on Liquefaction Systems for Lunar and Mars Exploration
There is interest at NASA, other space agencies, and industry, in the liquefaction of fluids produced through in-situ processes on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. A multi-center team at NASA recently considered multiple different refrigeration cycles and refrigeration integration methodologies and how these might fit into early liquefaction plants for NASA's exploration initiatives. The rate of liquefaction for these initiatives is quite slow in comparison to large scale terrestrial applications. These studies concluded that, for both structural and heat spreading reasons, integrating the refrigeration tubing on the surface of the storage tank wall is an attractive path to pursue in the near term. In order to develop a technology development path and inform investors, it was desired to investigate the sensitivity of gravity of the processes involved. An analysis of the condensation processes within the tank is performed. The objective is to determine the sensitivity of liquefaction to gravitational effects. The heat transfer mechanisms include forced convection heat removal to the refrigeration system (or cryocooler), conduction through the tank wall heat exchanger, and convection and condensation on the inner tank wall. Gravity affects the liquefaction process via condensate liquid drainage, natural convection in the ullage, and the shape of the liquid-vapor interface within the tank. Analysis of these mechanisms shows that while there is some sensitivity to gravitational level in general, within the bounds of current interest (rate of liquefaction appropriate to Lunar and Martian applications, and cooling capacity of the cryocooler), this sensitivity of liquefaction to gravity is quite small. Thus, system level testing on the Earth should suffice for the performance prediction and demonstration of liquefaction operations as applicable to Lunar and Martian applications.