Chemical Engineering August 2013 - 9

Edited by Gerald Ondrey
August 2013
Commercialization is set for a
biomass-to-gasoline process
A
process that is expected to produce highoctane
gasoline from non-food biomass
for an average cost of $1.50/gal, depending
on feed costs, will be commercialized by Cool
Planet Energy Systems (Denver, Colo.; www.
coolplanet.com). The company has tested the
process in a 200,000-gal/yr pilot plant in Camarillo,
Calif., and now plans to install 400
10-million-gal/yr microrefineries across the
U.S. by 2020.
The plants will be built from modules.
Construction is scheduled to start early next
year on a manufacturing plant to produce
the modules, which will be shipped to the
field for assembly. " We will take the modular
plants to where the biomass is and we
don't intend to ship biomass from farther
than a 30-mile radius, " says Michael Rocke,
vice-president.
In Cool Planet's process (flowsheet), biomass
is fractionated thermo-mechanically
by a patented " Biomass Fractionator " at
300-500°C and 2 bars in a controlled flashpyrolysis
step. The carbonized biomass
residue (biochar) is recovered from the
bottom of the fractionator for use as a soil
enhancer, while the gases (a mix of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen) exit the top of the
unit. The gases pass to a reactor and are
PATH 2
Biomass
fractionator
Biom
Biochar
Advanced catalysts C&D
Biomass in
PATH 1
Advanced catalysts A&B
Jet
gasoline
diesel
Soil enhancement process
Soil enhancer
converted to gasoline, diesel fuel or jet fuel
by proprietary zeolite catalysts. Cool Planet
has programmable catalysts and uses up to
two per reactor, says Rocke. The structure
of the modified ZSM-5 catalysts, as well as
the process conditions, are tailored to obtain
the desired product.
Rocke emphasizes that the fuels are
identical to those obtained from petroleum
and contain no oxygen, normally an
undesired component of biofuels. In Cool
Planet's process, he says, O2 combines with
H2 to form byproduct water. He adds that
the char soil enhancer not only increases
crop yields, but when it is sequestered in
the ground, it removes CO2 from the atmosphere,
resulting in a carbon footprint
reduction of up to 150%.
Inorganic membranes show promise
to halve energy consumption in distillation
apanese researchers from the New Energy
and Industrial Technology Development
Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki City;
www.nedo.go.jp), Waseda University, JX
Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX_NOE) and
five other companies along with five more
universities have developed an inorganic
membrane that enables energy savings of
up to 50% compared to conventional dewatering
distillation processes. Developed
under a five-year NEDO research project
that began in 2009, the membrane has already
achieved 200 h of continuous operation
since February in a 60 kg/h bench plant
at JX_NOE's Kawasaki factory.
The membrane is said to be more hydrophobic
than existing inorganic membranes
made of A-type zeolite, and thus more
J
widely applicable. It is made by a crystalfabrication
technology that optimizes the
crystal composition at the nanoscale. The
research group has also developed a manufacturing
process to produce separation
modules with membranes on a porous ceramic
support.
The membranes are used in a hybrid process
within the reflux section of a distillation
column. Initially, the test application
is the dewatering of an isopropanol/water
mixture. The group plans to demonstrate
1,000 h of continuous operation under real
industrial conditions, and scale up the process
in 2016. Another membrane with acidresistant
characteristics is also being codeveloped
in the project for the dewatering
of acetic acid.
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number
on p. 52, or use the website designation.
Carbon
sequestered
Anti-hydrolysis agent
Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan;
www.teijin.co.jp) has developed
a new carbodiimide
anti-hydrolysis agent that
is said to exhibit " superior "
anti-hydrolysis properties to
improve the durability of plastics.
The agent has the additional
advantage of not emitting
isocyanate gas, which is
usually generated during the
use of carbodiimide agents.
Thus, the new agent is expected
to help improve working
environments for manufacturers.
Samples are being
provided to potential users,
and the company plans commercialization
by 2015, with
an annual production target of
100 tons by 2018.
Based on an agent already
used in Teijin's Biofront
heat-resistant bioplastic, the
new agent has now been
confi rmed for application in
other types of plastic, including
polyesters, polyamides
and polyurethanes. The cyclic
carbodiimide can be used in
relatively smaller quantities
to increase plastic's durability,
and because it is heat
resistant to at least 300°C,
it can be mixed with plastics
at higher temperatures. It
can also be used as a crosslinking
agent to harden or adjust
the viscosity of paint and
coating agents.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM AUGUST 2013 9
(Continues on p. 12)
http://www.coolplanet.com http://www.teijin.co.jp http://www.nedo.go.jp http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering August 2013
