Algae-based biomass for production of fuels and chemicals

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Fuels and chemicals produced from biomass are gaining a lot of interest as these fuels and chemicals have lower greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint over the life cycle. This research project is aimed at assessment of algae-based hydrogen and diluent production. Algae have higher biomass production rates compared to most of the agricultural and forest based biomass. Hydrogen is required for upgrading of bitumen and this demand is going to increase significantly in future. Currently most of this hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Bitumen is mixed with diluent for pipeline transport and its demand is also going to increase in future. If hydrogen and diluents are produced from algal biomass, this will reduce the GHG footprint of oil sands significantly. This research will develop data intensive techno-economic models for assessment of the utilization of algal biomass for production diluents and hydrogen in terms of cost. An energy and emission assessment of the different algae conversion pathways over life cycle will also be performed. Net-energy-ratio for different conversion pathways will be developed which will help in understanding the amount of energy required to produce a unit of energy through different conversion pathways. A range of algal production and harvesting system will be assessed. The results of this project will help the petroleum industry with a clear understanding of the cost of algal-biomass based hydrogen and diluent production. This project aims at training at least nine highly qualified personnel (HQPs) in the area of energy modeling and renewable energy. These HQPs could play a significant role in fast developing renewable energy sector in Canada.