Biorefineries (eBook)

Mário Costa is a Full Professor in the area of Environment and Energy at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). He graduated in Chemical Engineering at University of Coimbra in 1984, obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London in 1992 and his Habilitation in Mechanical Engineering at Technical University of Lisbon in 2009. Currently, he teaches the courses of Thermodynamics, Combustion, Renewables Energies and Integrated Energy Systems. He has supervised more than 100 MSc and Phd students. He has participated in more than 50 national and international projects in the area of Energy and Environment and has (co-)authored 1 book, more than 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and more than 150 papers in international conferences. He was the recipient of the Caleb Brett Award of the Institute of Energy in 1991, of the Sugden Award of the British Section of the Combustion Institute in 1991, of the Prémio Científico UTL/Santander Totta in 2010 and of a Menção Honrosa Universidade de Lisboa/Santander in 2016   Dr. Carla Silva received the Mechanical Engineering degree (five year course) in 2000 and the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2005, at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon, Portugal. She went for a post doc at both IST and University of Michigan working on CO2 mitigation in road vehicles. She was a senior researcher at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering IDMEC since 2008 to 2015. She is now assistant professor at the Department of Geographic, Geophysics and Energy Engineering at Faculdade de Ciências. She teaches, in the integrated master of Energy and Environment Engineering, the courses of Sustainable Mobility, Bioenergy, Combustion Technologies, Life cycle assessement and Electrical circuits. She has supervised 40 MSc and 7 Phd students. She has 1 book, 2 book chapters, 50 papers in international peer-reviewed journals (h=19 google scholar) and more than 50 papers in international conferences. She is an active reviewer (https://publons.com/author/570077/carla-silva#stats ).  Has been awarded with 7 prizes, including the best mechanical engineering internship and the 3M prize for innovation.  Areas of interest are new fuels; biomass; alternative road vehicle simulation; energy and environment impacts; life cycle assessment, indicators for sustainable mobility. Ana Ferreira is a Post-doctoral in the area of Environment and Energy at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). She graduated and obtained her master degree in Chemistry, in the environmental area of analysis of atmospheric aerosols and atmospheric exposure, at Faculty of Science of University of Lisbon in 2005 and 2008, respectively. In 2013 completed her PhD in Environmental Engineering at IST of University of Lisbon. Currently she is a Post-doctoral researcher at Institute of Mechanical Engineering of IST, on alternative biomass and biofuels. She has more than 11 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 1 book chapter and more than 28 papers in international conferences. She has participated in more than 5 national and international projects, including a Cost Action, in the area of Environment and Energy. She has been awarded third place in YEAR 2012 – The Young European Arena of Research during the Transportation Research Arena (TRA2012) in Athens, in 2012. Areas of interest are biomass, biomass conversion (e.g. combustion and pyrolysis), pollutant emissions, biofuels, energy and environment and life cycle assessment   Miriam Rabaçal is a Post-Doc researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Lisboa, Portugal, and was a collaborator of the IDMEC/IST research institute from 2010 until she became an integrated member in 2016. She received a M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from IST in 2010. During her master thesis project, she held an Initiation to Research grant while working on small-scale biomass pellets combustion. After a four months’ internship in Karunya University, Coimbatore, India, she returned to IST to pursue her PhD studies supported a FCT PhD grant on Large Eddy Simulations of coal and biomass combustion. During her PhD studies, she spent six months in Imperial College London, 18 months in Duisburg Essen University and three months in TUB Freiberg for collaborative research on her PhD topic. She received her PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2016. She participated in more than five international and national research projects in the areas of High Performance Computing, Combustion and Energy. She has nine papers in international peer-reviewed journals, one book chpater and 24 communications in international scientific meetings.

Preface 6
Acknowledgements 8
Contents 9
Nomenclature 10
Editors and Contributors 13
1 Biorefinery Concept 17
Abstract 17
1.1 Introduction 17
1.2 Biomass Feedstock Biorefinery 21
1.2.1 Lignocellulosic Biorefineries 22
1.2.2 Marine Biorefineries 23
1.3 Biomass Conversion Processes 25
1.3.1 Thermochemical Conversion 26
1.3.2 Biochemical Conversion 28
1.3.3 Advanced Biorefinery 30
1.4 Economic and Sustainability Analyses 31
Acknowledgements 34
References 34
2 Biomass Availability, Potential and Characteristics 37
Abstract 37
2.1 Biomass Definition and Classification 37
2.1.1 Types of Biomass 38
2.1.1.1 Virgin Biomass 39
Terrestrial 41
Aquatic 42
2.1.1.2 Waste Biomass 43
Municipal Wastes 44
Agricultural Solid Wastes 45
Forestry Residues 47
2.1.2 Chemical–Physical Composition 47
2.1.3 Composition of Biomass 49
2.1.3.1 “Proximate” Analysis 50
2.1.3.2 Elementary Composition 51
2.1.4 Heating Value 54
2.2 Biomass Productivity and Energy Value 56
2.2.1 Chlorophyll Photosynthesis 57
2.2.2 Efficiency 58
2.2.3 Production and Biomass Energy Yield 59
2.2.4 Worldwide Productivity 64
2.2.5 Limitations of Energy Production from Biomass 68
References 69
3 Biomass Conversion Technologies: Fast Pyrolysis Liquids from Biomass: Quality and Upgrading 71
Abstract 71
3.1 Introduction to Fast Pyrolysis and Bio-oil 71
3.1.1 Introduction 71
3.2 Fast Pyrolysis Technology 72
3.2.1 Principles 72
3.2.2 Fast Pyrolysis Reactors 74
3.2.2.1 Bubbling Fluid Beds 74
3.2.2.2 Circulating Fluid Beds and Transported Beds 76
3.2.2.3 Ablative Pyrolysis 77
3.2.2.4 Other Reaction Systems 78
3.3 Liquid Characteristics and Quality 80
3.3.1 Bio-oil General Characteristics 80
3.3.2 Upgrading Bio-oil 82
3.4 Significant Factors Affecting Bio-oil Characteristics and Quality 86
3.4.1 Feed Material 86
3.4.1.1 Ash Content and Composition 87
3.4.1.2 Water Content of Prepared Biomass 87
3.4.1.3 Composition of Biomass 87
3.4.1.4 Contamination of Biomass 87
3.4.2 Reactors 87
3.5 Norms and Standards 88
3.6 Bio-oil Upgrading 88
3.6.1 Acidity or Low pH 89
3.6.2 Ageing 89
3.6.3 Alkali Metals 89
3.6.4 Char 90
3.6.4.1 Cyclones 90
3.6.4.2 Filtration 90
3.6.4.3 Slurries 91
3.6.5 Chlorine 91
3.6.6 Colour 92
3.6.7 Contamination of Feed 92
3.6.8 Distillability 92
3.6.9 High Viscosity 92
3.6.10 Inhomogeneity 93
3.6.11 Low H:C Ratio 93
3.6.12 Low pH 93
3.6.13 Materials Incompatibility 93
3.6.14 Miscibility with Hydrocarbons 94
3.6.14.1 Blending 94
3.6.14.2 Emulsions 94
3.6.15 Nitrogen 94
3.6.16 Other Solid Particulates, Excluding Char 95
3.6.17 Oxygen Content 95
3.6.18 Phase Separation or Inhomogeneity 95
3.6.19 Smell 95
3.6.20 Structure of Bio-oil 96
3.6.21 Sulphur 96
3.6.22 Temperature Sensitivity 96
3.6.23 Toxicity 97
3.6.24 Viscosity 97
3.6.25 Water Content 98
3.7 Chemical and Catalytic Upgrading of Bio-oil 98
3.7.1 Physical Upgrading of Bio-oil 99
3.7.1.1 Filtration 99
3.7.1.2 Solvent Addition 99
3.7.1.3 Emulsions 100
3.7.2 Catalytic Upgrading of Bio-oil 100
3.7.2.1 Natural Ash in Biomass 100
3.7.2.2 Upgrading to Biofuels 100
3.7.2.3 Hydrotreating 101
3.7.2.4 Zeolite Cracking 103
Integrated Catalytic Pyrolysis 105
Decoupled Vapour Upgrading from Volatilisation of Bio-oil 105
3.7.3 Other Methods for Chemical Upgrading of Bio-oil 106
3.7.4 Hydrogen 107
3.7.5 Chemicals 107
3.7.5.1 Chemical Composition of Bio-oil 108
3.7.5.2 Production of Chemicals 108
3.8 Conclusions 108
References 109
4 Biomass Conversion Technologies: Biological/Biochemical Conversion of Biomass 115
Abstract 115
4.1 Introduction 115
4.2 Alcohols 116
4.2.1 Lignocellulosic Feedstock 116
4.2.1.1 Enzymatic Hydrolysis 117
4.2.1.2 Alcohol Fermentation 117
4.2.1.3 Syngas Fermentation 118
4.2.2 Microbial Feedstock 119
4.3 Acetic Acid 119
4.4 Lactic Acid 120
4.5 Biohydrogen 121
4.5.1 Dark Fermentation 121
4.5.2 Photo-fermentation 122
4.6 Biogas 122
4.7 Other Compounds 123
References 125
5 Biomass Conversion Technologies: Catalytic Conversion Technologies 128
Abstract 128
5.1 Introduction 128
5.2 Aqueous-Phase Catalytic Processing of Biomass Platform Molecules 130
5.2.1 Ethanol 130
5.2.2 Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) 130
5.2.3 Lactic Acid 131
5.2.4 Levulinic Acid 133
References 134
6 Biorefinery Modeling and Optimization 137
Abstract 137
6.1 Introduction 137
6.2 Biomass Conversion Processes 138
6.3 Process Simulation 140
6.4 Simulation in Biorefinery Processes 141
6.4.1 Property Model Selection 141
6.4.2 Components Specification 141
6.4.3 Flow Sheet Definition 142
6.4.4 Streams Specification 142
6.4.5 Blocks Specification 142
6.4.6 Inline Calculations and Design with Specifications 142
6.5 Simulation of Biorefinery Processes 143
6.5.1 Direct Combustion of Biomass 143
6.5.2 Biomass Pyrolysis and Bio-Oil Refining Modeling 146
6.5.2.1 Pyrolysis Section 146
6.5.2.2 Hydrotreatment Section 148
6.5.2.3 Distillation and Hydrocracking Section 149
6.5.2.4 Steam Reforming Section 149
6.5.3 Biomass Gasification 151
6.5.3.1 Fluidized Bed Gasifier 151
6.5.3.2 Biomass-Coke Co-gasification 154
6.5.4 Biochemical Processes: Biofuels Production via Fermentation 154
6.5.4.1 Biomass Pretreatment 156
6.5.4.2 Carbohydrates Fermentation 157
6.5.4.3 Lignin Valorization via Combustion in Biochemical Processes 159
6.5.5 Chemical Processes 159
6.5.5.1 Biomass Fractionation 160
6.5.5.2 Lignin Depolymerization 162
6.5.5.3 Applications of Polymeric Lignin 163
6.5.5.4 Biomass Valorization via Chemical Processes. DIBANET Process 163
6.6 Process Optimization 165
6.6.1 Process Integration 167
6.6.2 Pinch Analysis 168
6.6.3 Process Scale-up 170
References 170
7 Biorefinery Sustainability Analysis 175
Abstract 175
7.1 Life Cycle Assessment 176
7.1.1 Methodological Issues 178
7.1.2 Biorefinery Case Studies 180
7.1.2.1 Comparing Multiple Biorefinery Configurations 180
7.1.2.2 Comparing a Biorefinery with Fossil Based Counterpart 181
7.1.2.3 Comparing a Product from a Biorefinery with the Fossil Counterpart 182
7.2 Socio-Economic Sustainability Assessment 183
7.2.1 Criteria and Indicators 185
7.2.2 Governance 190
7.3 Uncertainty Issues in Biorefinery Sustainability Assessment 191
7.3.1 Method 193
7.3.2 Case Study A—Conceptual Design 196
7.3.3 Case Study B—Biorefinery Configuration 199
7.3.4 Case Study C—Operation Optimization 201
7.4 Conclusions 207
References 208
8 Designing Integrated Biorefineries Using Process Systems Engineering Tools 215
Abstract 215
8.1 Introduction 216
8.2 Methodology 218
8.2.1 Product Portfolio Definition 219
8.2.2 Techno-Economic Analysis: Large-Block Analysis 221
8.2.3 Life-Cycle Assessment 222
8.2.4 Supply Chain Analysis 224
8.2.5 Multi-criteria Decision-Making 228
8.3 Case Study 228
8.4 Concluding Remarks 235
References 236
9 Biorefineries in the World 241
Abstract 241
9.1 Introduction 241
9.2 Conventional Biorefineries 243
9.2.1 First-Generation Biodiesel 243
9.2.2 First-Generation Bioethanol 245
9.2.3 Other 1G Sugar Platform Bioproducts 248
9.2.4 Pulp and Paper Mills 249
9.3 Thermochemical-Based Advanced Biorefineries 250
9.3.1 Introduction 250
9.3.2 Most Relevant Thermochemical-Based Processes 252
9.4 Biochemical-Based Advanced Biorefineries 260
9.4.1 Biochemical-Based Advanced Lignocellulosic Biorefineries 261
9.4.2 Biochemical-Based Advanced Algae Biorefineries 273
9.5 Bio-thermo-chemical-based Lignocellulosic Advanced Biorefineries 279
9.5.1 Syngas Fermentation 280
9.5.2 Products from Microbial Gas Fermentation 280
9.5.3 Syngas Composition and Mass Transfer Limitation 281
9.5.4 Industrial Examples of Syngas Fermentation 282
9.6 Future Trends on Advanced Biorefineries 285
9.6.1 Lignocellulosic-Based Bioethanol Biorefineries 285
9.6.2 Feedstock-Flexible Biorefineries 286
9.6.3 Cluster-Based Biorefineries 286
9.6.4 Integrated Pulp and Paper Biorefineries 286
9.6.5 Higher Added Value Products-Driven Biorefineries 287
9.7 Concluding Remarks 288
References 288
Index 296