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

催化天然气升级低成本碳资源以生产有价值的商品

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04385
• 负责人: Song, Hua
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=611003
• 关键词: Catalytic; Natural; Gas; Upgrading; Low

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.

快速热解和加氢脱氧是目前最常用的生物质制取生物油的方法。两步法可以结合在一起作为加氢热解处理。这种方法通常需要连续的氢气流动和较高的操作压力(15~100atm)，导致投资和操作成本显著增加。与氢气相比，甲烷可以很容易地作为天然气获得，氢气不是自然可得的，因此成本很高。如果能用甲烷代替氢气作为还原剂，在接近常压(~lt；3atm)和中温(400~500℃)的条件下饱和得到的液态碳氢化合物来脱除生物质中的氧气，则生产的生物油将具有更强的成本竞争力。此外，甲烷本身将被转化为有利于额外液体燃料生产的更高碳氢化合物，以及升级过程中较低的二氧化碳(CO2)排放。 传统上，产生的生物质焦被排放并输送到单独的设备，用于合成气体生产或发电与燃烧。与单独的焦炭加工路线不同，拟议的研究将使用单一步骤将生物质热解产生的焦炭和挥发物同时转化为合成气和液体燃料，在此期间，焦炭在添加气化催化剂的促进下，由挥发性物质的甲烷脱氧产生的水蒸气或二氧化碳气化。除了生物质以外，其他低成本的碳源，如低阶煤和有机城市和农业固体废物，将被用作石油生产的原料，以提高质量。 拟议的研究旨在开发一系列低成本催化剂候选和一种综合工艺，可以一步有效地将天然气和低成本碳资源同时转化为有价值的商品，包括合成原油、用于液体化学品或燃料生产的合成气流，以及用作污染物清除和发电燃料的吸着剂的优质生物炭。 天然气和生物质热解产生的挥发性物质之间的协同效应将有助于甲烷活化和随后的生物油升级，使用通过这一拟议研究计划开发的特别定制的催化剂。这项研究取得的任何突破都将允许能源领域进行根本性改革，并将改变人们对化石燃料能源的看法。与煤炭和石油相比，天然气是一种更清洁的化石燃料来源，在燃烧过程中释放到大气中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作为一次能源载体在未来得到广泛应用，为世界提供能源。此外，在这一拟议的新进程中使用生物质和有机固体废物等可再生能源，将使加拿大保持清洁能源领域创新的领先地位，并通过减少温室气体排放和垃圾填埋来提供环境效益。