Formate‐assisted pyrolysis of biomass: an economic and modeling analysis

Abstract

AbstractAn economic analysis was performed to determine the economic potential and commercialization barriers of producing renewable gasoline and diesel (RGD) fuel blendstocks via formate‐assisted pyrolysis (FAsP) followed by hydrodeoxygenation processes. A process model was simulated using Aspen Plus® to estimate material and energy balances for the conversion of 2000 dry MT per day of pine sawdust. Scenarios were considered for the regeneration of formate salts from either ‐biomass‐derived and natural‐gas‐derived carbon monoxide. The material and energy balances were used to calculate capital and operating costs of RGD fuel production. An economic model was built using capital and operating costs to estimate the minimum selling price (MSP) of RGD fuel. The MSP of RGD fuels were estimated at $4.58 per gallon of gasoline equivalent (GGE) and $4.80 per GGE for natural gas and biomass‐derived CO scenarios, respectively. The total capital investments of these plants were $448 million and $497 million. The feedstock cost was found to be the major cost contributor to the MSP of RGD fuel. Improving FAsP process yields will significantly reduce the production cost of RGD fuel. It has been learned that an increase in deoxygenation of bio‐oil in pyrolysis reactor decreases the capital and operating costs of bio‐oil upgrading to RGD fuel. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd