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Maximizing biofuel production in a thermochemical biorefinery by adding electrolytic hydrogen and by integrating torrefaction with entrained flow gasification

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  • Clausen, Lasse R.

Abstract

In a “conventional” thermochemical biorefinery, carbon is emitted from the plant in the form of CO2 to make the synthesis gas from the gasifier suitable for fuel production. The alternative to this carbon removal is to add hydrogen to the plant. By adding hydrogen, it is possible to more than double the biofuel production per biomass input by converting almost all of the carbon in the biomass feed to carbon stored in the biofuel product. Water or steam electrolysis can supply the hydrogen to the biorefinery and also the oxygen for the gasifier. This paper presents the design and thermodynamic analysis of two biorefineries integrating water electrolysis for the production of methanol. In both plants, torrefied woody biomass is supplied to an entrained flow gasifier, but in one of the plants, the torrefaction process occurs on-site, as it is integrated with the entrained flow gasification process. The analysis shows that the biorefinery with integrated torrefaction has a higher biomass to methanol energy ratio (136% vs. 101%) as well as higher total energy efficiency (62% vs. 56%). By comparing with two identical biorefineries without electrolysis, it is concluded that the biorefinery with integrated torrefaction benefits most from the integration of electrolysis.

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  • Clausen, Lasse R., 2015. "Maximizing biofuel production in a thermochemical biorefinery by adding electrolytic hydrogen and by integrating torrefaction with entrained flow gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 94-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:85:y:2015:i:c:p:94-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2015.03.089
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    1. Gassner, M. & Maréchal, F., 2008. "Thermo-economic optimisation of the integration of electrolysis in synthetic natural gas production from wood," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 189-198.
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    7. Clausen, Lasse R. & Elmegaard, Brian & Ahrenfeldt, Jesper & Henriksen, Ulrik, 2011. "Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol plants based on the efficient two-stage gasifier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 5805-5814.
    8. Clausen, Lasse R. & Elmegaard, Brian & Houbak, Niels, 2010. "Technoeconomic analysis of a low CO2 emission dimethyl ether (DME) plant based on gasification of torrefied biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4831-4842.
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    1. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "Integration of anaerobic digestion with thermal gasification and pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells for high efficiency bio-SNG production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    2. Clausen, Lasse R., 2017. "Energy efficient thermochemical conversion of very wet biomass to biofuels by integration of steam drying, steam electrolysis and gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 327-336.
    3. Anetjärvi, Eemeli & Vakkilainen, Esa & Melin, Kristian, 2023. "Benefits of hybrid production of e-methanol in connection with biomass gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    4. Butera, Giacomo & Fendt, Sebastian & Jensen, Søren H. & Ahrenfeldt, Jesper & Clausen, Lasse R., 2020. "Flexible methanol production units coupling solid oxide cells and thermochemical biomass conversion via different gasification technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    5. Butera, Giacomo & Gadsbøll, Rasmus Østergaard & Ravenni, Giulia & Ahrenfeldt, Jesper & Henriksen, Ulrik Birk & Clausen, Lasse Røngaard, 2020. "Thermodynamic analysis of methanol synthesis combining straw gasification and electrolysis via the low temperature circulating fluid bed gasifier and a char bed gas cleaning unit," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    6. Budzianowski, Wojciech M. & Postawa, Karol, 2016. "Total Chain Integration of sustainable biorefinery systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1432-1446.
    7. Sigurjonsson, Hafthor Ægir & Clausen, Lasse R., 2018. "Solution for the future smart energy system: A polygeneration plant based on reversible solid oxide cells and biomass gasification producing either electrofuel or power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 323-337.
    8. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "High efficiency SNG production from biomass and electricity by integrating gasification with pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1117-1131.
    9. Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer & Clausen, Lasse Røngaard & Algren, Loui & Hansen, Anders Bavnhøj & Münster, Marie & Gadsbøll, Rasmus Østergaard & Haglind, Fredrik, 2017. "Optimization of a flexible multi-generation system based on wood chip gasification and methanol production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 337-359.
    10. Dossow, Marcel & Dieterich, Vincent & Hanel, Andreas & Spliethoff, Hartmut & Fendt, Sebastian, 2021. "Improving carbon efficiency for an advanced Biomass-to-Liquid process using hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

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