SBIR Phase II: Catalyst for Biomass Gasification Processes

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的重点是提高效率和降低与从气化生物质生产能源、液体燃料和增值化学品相关的成本。与大多数其他生物燃料来源不同，气化不会与食物来源直接竞争，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过程，因为难以生产清洁的合成气(不含焦油和污染物)，用于下游涡轮机或化工生产步骤。在此过程中，为了保护下游设备，焦油的去除是必要的。在该项目中，NeXTech将开发一种新型催化整体，并将其商业化，该整体能够将焦油转化为有用的产品--合成气，从而提高系统效率。这将通过首先优化生产整体柱所需的工艺步骤，然后在独立测试中验证整体柱性能来实现。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、成本更低的焦油去除方法。从生物质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，生物质是一种废物产品，对人类消费没有用处，因此这项技术不会与食物来源竞争。此外，使用生物质作为能源将减少我国对外国能源的依赖。正在开发的技术还可以应用于广泛的其他催化反应，包括稀燃柴油发动机尾气处理、碳氢化合物重整和气液转化过程。从科学的角度来看，该项目正在开发的技术与传统催化剂是独一无二的，基本原理可以应用于广泛的应用。此外，在该项目期间开展的工作将提高对催化剂因硫中毒和碳形成而失活的了解。总体而言，该项目将为催化和材料开发方面的文献贡献新的成果。

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.