SBIR Phase II: Catalyst for Biomass Gasification Processes

这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目的重点是提高与从气化生物质中生产能源、液体燃料和增值化学品相关的效率和降低成本。与大多数其他生物燃料来源不同，气化不会直接与食物来源竞争，因为几乎任何有机物质都可以用作原料。原料的例子包括农业残渣、木屑和城市垃圾。然而，生物质气化目前是一个资本密集型的过程，因为很难生产出用于下游涡轮机或化学生产步骤的清洁合成气（无焦油和污染物）。除焦油是保护下游设备的必要措施。在这个项目中，NexTech将开发并商业化一种新型催化单体，能够将焦油转化为有用的产品——合成气，提高系统效率。这将首先通过优化生产单体所需的加工步骤来完成，然后在独立测试中验证单体的性能。最终产品将为气化炉用户提供一种比目前使用的方法更简单、更便宜的焦油去除方法。从生物质中生产能源和液体燃料将产生许多有益的社会影响。气化过程是碳中性的，因为它使用从植物中捕获的二氧化碳；因此，生物质气化将取代化石燃料的能源生产，从而减少温室气体排放。与燃料作物不同，生物质是一种废物，对人类消费没有用处，因此该技术不会与食物来源竞争。此外，使用生物质作为一种能源将减少我国对外国能源的依赖。这项正在开发的技术也可以广泛应用于其他催化反应，包括稀燃柴油发动机废气处理、碳氢化合物重整和气转液过程。从科学的角度来看，该项目开发的技术与传统催化剂不同，其基本原理可以应用于广泛的应用领域。此外，在这个项目中进行的工作将提高对硫中毒和碳形成的催化剂失活的理解。总体而言，该项目将在催化和材料开发方面的文献中贡献新的结果。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project focuses on improving efficiency and reducing cost associated with the production of energy, liquid fuels, and value-added chemicals from gasified biomass. Unlike most other sources of biofuels, gasification would not directly compete with food sources since virtually any organic matter can be used as the feedstock. Examples of feedstocks include agricultural residue, wood chips, and municipal waste. However, biomass gasification is currently a capital intensive process because of the difficulty with producing a clean syngas (free of tars and pollutants) for use in downstream turbines or chemical production steps. Tar removal is necessary to protect down-stream equipment in the process. Within this project, NexTech will develop and commercialize a novel catalytic monolith capable of reforming tars into a useful product, syngas, improving system efficiency. This will be done by first optimizing the processing steps required to produce the monolith, then verifying the monolith performance in independent testing. The end product will provide gasifier users with a simpler and less expensive method for tar removal than currently used approaches.The production of energy and liquid fuels from biomass will have a number of beneficial societal impacts. The gasification process is carbon neutral, since it uses CO2 that was captured from plants; therefore, biomass gasification will replace energy production from fossil fuels, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike fuel crops, biomass is a waste product that has no use for human consumption, so the technology does not compete with food sources. Further, using biomass as a source of energy will reduce the dependence of our nation on foreign sources of energy. The technology being developed could have application to a wide range of other catalytic reactions as well, including lean burn diesel engine exhaust treatment, hydrocarbon reforming and gas-to-liquid processes. From a scientific standpoint, the technology being developed in this project is unique from traditional catalysts, and the basic principles could be applied to a wide range of applications. Additionally, the work being carried out during this project will improve understanding of catalyst deactivation from sulfur poisoning and carbon formation. Overall, the project will contribute novel results to the body of literature in catalysis and materials development.