DOE to Invest Up to $7.7M for Four Biofuels Projects

December 7, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of four biofuels projects in which DOE plans to invest up to $7.7 million.

According to DOE, these projects will demonstrate the thermochemical conversion process of turning grasses, stover, the non-edible portion of crops and other materials into biofuel.

In 2007 DOE announced over $1B in funding for biofuels R&D (multi-year funding) projects.

These R&D projects will help further the U.S. government's goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost competitive with gasoline by 2012, increase automobile fuel efficiency and reduce America's gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years, said DOE.

This research promises to more efficiently eliminate contaminants generated during the thermochemical production of biofuels.

Combined with the industry cost share, more than $15.7 million is slated for investment in the below four projects.

Negotiations between the selected companies and DOE will begin immediately to determine final project plans and precise funding levels. Funding will begin in FY2008 and will run through FY2010, subject to Congressional appropriations.

The four projects are:

Emery Energy Company (EEC) of Salt Lake City, Utah
EEC has partnered with Ceramatec Inc. and the Western Research Institute to demonstrate a low-cost way to mitigate tars and oils in biomass synthesis gas while also managing other impurities.

This project will verify the technical viability of using the resulting clean synthesis gas in a downstream liquid fuel catalysis process, said DOE. EEC intends to use a high impact biomass such as corn stover for their project. DOE will provide up to $1.7 million for the $2.9 million project.

Iowa State University of Ames, Iowa
Iowa State, in partnership with ConocoPhillips Company, will test an integrated biomass-to-liquids system that uses gas cooling through oil scrubbing rather than water scrubbing in order to minimize waste water treatment.

Switchgrass will be the biomass feedstock fed into the gasifier. The gas-oil scrubbing liquid will then be sent to a coker in existing petroleum refining operations to be used as a feedstock.

ConocoPhillips' proprietary sulfur removal technology will also be incorporated into the gas cleanup. Non-proprietary methods will be used to remove ammonia (NH3), chloride and other alkali materials. DOE will provide up to $2 million for the $5.2 million project.

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Research Triangle Institute, in partnership with North Carolina State University and the University of Utah, will generate syngas derived from woody biomass. A dual fluidized bed reactor will allow continuous regeneration of a catalyst that can simultaneously reform, crack and remove tar, NH3 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) down to parts per million levels.

During Phase 2, RTI will design and build a slurry bubble column reactor system to convert the clean syngas into a liquid transportation fuel. DOE will provide up to $2 million for the $3.1 million project.

Southern Research Institute (SRI) of Birmingham, Alabama
In collaboration with Pall Corporation, Thermochem Recovery International and Rentech, SRI will use a one megawatt thermal biomass gasifier to generate syngas.

The proposed ceramic filter technology and proven gas cleanup sorbent and catalyst system is expected to exceed the required contaminant removal levels specified by Rentech. The unique cleanup technology will be coupled with a conventional scrubber and polishing filter downstream. DOE will provide up to $2 million for the $4.5 million project.

The Merits of Cellulosic Ethanol
According to DOE, cellulosic ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel made from a wide variety of non-food plant materials (or feedstocks), including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production like switchgrass.

By using a variety of regional feedstocks for refining cellulosic ethanol, the fuel can be produced in nearly every region of the country, said DOE. Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol requires less fossil fuels for production and results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol.

E-85, an ethanol-fuel blend that is 85% ethanol, is already available in more than 1,200 fueling stations in the U.S. and can power millions of flexible fuel vehicles already on the road.

Other DOE R&D Projects
Other DOE biofuels R&D projects announced in 2007 include:

• $385 million for commercial-scale biorefineries (six projects being pursued).
• $200 million for pilot-scale (10%) biorefineries to test novel refining processes.
• Over $400 million for three bioenergy centers.
• $23 million for "ethanologen" to develop more efficient microbes for ethanol refining.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

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