Catalytic Natural Gas Upgrading of Low Cost Carbon Resources for Producing Valuable Commodities

快速热解加氢脱氧升级是目前生物质生产生物油最常用的方法。两步工艺可以结合在一起作为加氢热解处理。这种方法通常涉及持续的氢气流和高操作压力（15~100 atm），导致资金和操作成本显着增加。氢气不是天然存在的，因此价格昂贵，与之相比，甲烷可以很容易地作为天然气获得。如果在接近大气压（< 3atm）和中等温度（400~500°C）的条件下，甲烷可以代替氢气作为还原剂来去除生物质中的氧，同时使所获得的液态烃饱和，那么所生产的生物油将更具成本竞争力。此外，甲烷本身将转化为更高的碳氢化合物，有利于额外的液体燃料生产，同时在升级过程中减少二氧化碳（CO2）排放。产生的生物质炭按常规排放并输送到分离的设备，用于合成气生产或燃烧发电。与单独的焦炭加工路线不同，本文提出的研究将采用单一步骤将生物质热解中的焦炭和挥发物同时转化为合成气和液体燃料，在添加的气化催化剂的促进下，将挥发物甲烷脱氧产生的水蒸气或二氧化碳气化焦炭。除生物质外，其他低成本的碳源，如低阶煤和有机城市和农业固体废物，将被用作提高质量的石油生产原料。该研究旨在开发一系列低成本的候选催化剂和一个集成过程，可以有效地将天然气和低成本的碳资源同时在一个步骤中转化为有价值的商品，包括合成原油，用于液体化学或燃料生产的合成气流，以及用作污染物清理的吸附剂和发电燃料的高质量生物炭。天然气与生物质热解产生的共存挥发物之间产生的协同效应将促进甲烷活化和随后的生物油升级，使用通过该提议的研究计划开发的专门定制的催化剂。这项研究取得的任何突破都将导致能源领域的根本性改革，并将改变人们对化石燃料能源的看法。与煤和石油相比，天然气是一种更清洁的化石燃料，在燃烧过程中向大气中释放的氮氧化物和二氧化碳更少。此外，如果通过拟议的研究确定有效和经济的战略，天然气的低成本和大量储量将使其在未来作为为世界提供动力的主要能源载体得到广泛应用。此外，在这个提议的新工艺中使用可再生能源，如生物质和有机固体废物，将使加拿大成为清洁能源领域创新的领导者，并通过减少温室气体排放和填埋废物提供环境效益。

Fast pyrolysis followed by hydrodeoxygenation upgrading is the most popular way to produce bio-oil from biomass. A two-step process can be combined together as hydropyrolysis treatment. This approach usually involves continuous hydrogen flow and high operation pressure (15~100 atm), resulting in significantly increased capital and operational costs. Compared to hydrogen, which is not naturally available and thus costly, methane can be readily obtained as natural gas. If methane can be employed as the reducing agent instead of hydrogen to remove oxygen from biomass while saturating the obtained liquid hydrocarbons at near atmospheric pressure (< 3 atm) and moderate temperatures (400~500°C), the produced bio-oil will become more cost competitive. Moreover, methane itself will be converted to higher hydrocarbons beneficial for extra liquid fuel production along with lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the upgrading process. The generated biomass char is conventionally discharged and delivered to separate equipment for syngas production or power generation from combustion. Unlike the separate char processing route, the proposed research will use a single step to simultaneously convert char and volatile matter from biomass pyrolysis to syngas and liquid fuel, during which the char is gasified by water vapour or CO2 generated from the methane deoxygenation of volatile matter under the facilitation of an added gasification catalyst. In addition to biomass, other low-cost carbon sources, such as low-rank coal and organic municipal and agricultural solid wastes, will be employed as feedstock for oil production with improved quality. The proposed research aims to develop a series of low-cost catalyst candidates and an integrated process that can effectively convert natural gas and low-cost carbon resources simultaneously in one step to valuable commodities, including synthetic crude oil, syngas stream for liquid chemical or fuel production, and high-quality bio-char useful as sorbent for the cleanup of pollutants and fuel for power generation. The synergistic effect occurring between natural gas and co-existing volatile matter generated from biomass pyrolysis will facilitate methane activation and subsequent bio-oil upgrading with the use of a specially tailored catalyst developed through this proposed research program. Any breakthrough achieved from this research will allow for fundamental reforms in the field of energy and will change the way people view fossil fuel energy. Compared to coal and oil, natural gas is a much cleaner fossil fuel source, releasing less nitrogen oxides and CO2 into the atmosphere during combustion. Moreover, if an effective and economical strategy is identified through the proposed study, the low cost and massive reserves of natural gas will allow for its wide application in the future as a primary energy carrier for powering the world. Furthermore, the employment of renewable energy resources, such as biomass and organic solid wastes, in this proposed novel process will keep Canada as a leader of innovations in the clean energy field and provide environmental benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and landfilled wastes.