Production of biomethane, bio-syngas and light bio-olefins from agro-forestry biomass through biological and thermochemical routes

目前，在北美，由于建筑供暖、制冷和冷却设备以及作为热电联产系统的燃料的巨大消耗，天然气（甲烷）的需求预计将上升。但是，由于矿物资源正在枯竭，而且会造成环境污染，因此非常需要一种天然气的替代来源。因此，生物甲烷因其可再生性被认为是天然气的可行替代品。在这项工作中，生物甲烷和生物合成气将通过热化学（气化）和生物（厌氧消化）途径利用农林生物质和食物垃圾生产。气化等热化学过程利用热能和化学能将生物质分解成合成气、焦油和灰烬。相反，生化途径利用微生物或酶将生物质转化为生物甲烷。生物和热化学技术的结合可以为生产具有工业应用的广泛生物燃料产品提供一种创新方法。此外，将气化和FT合成与厌氧消化相结合是一种有效的生物炼制概念，可以改善消化固体废物的管理，并生产不同的增值产品，如生物炭、生物合成气和液态生物烃。因此，利用多种农林生物质气化产生的合成气作为直接燃烧燃料或作为FT催化的原料生产绿色液体和气体燃料，可以为加拿大的能源和化学工业带来许多环境和经济效益。因此，目前的建议将研究涉及几种农林业残留物的生物和热化学途径。通过生命周期和技术经济分析，比较两种生产路线的经济可行性和环境影响。包括生物和热化学综合技术的生产路线将通过Tidewater Renewables的示范工厂扩大规模，进行连续处理。该项目的研究结果将通过生产具有成本效益的生物燃料使加拿大能源部门受益。

Currently, in North America, the demand for natural gas (methane) is expected to rise due to huge consumption in heating buildings, refrigeration, and cooling equipment and as a fuel in combined heat and power systems. However, there is a significant need for an alternate source of natural gas as fossil resources are depleting and are concerned with environmental pollution. Therefore, biomethane is regarded as a feasible alternative to natural gas due to its renewability. In this work, bio-methane and bio-syngas will be produced via thermochemical (gasification) and biological (anaerobic digestion) routes using agro-forestry biomass and food wastes. Thermochemical processes such as gasification use heat and chemical energy to decompose biomass into syngas, tar, and ash. On the contrary, the biochemical routes use microorganisms or enzymes to convert biomass into biomethane. A combination of biological and thermochemical technologies could provide an innovative approach for producing a wide range of biofuel products with industrial applications. Further, the integration of gasification and FT synthesis to anaerobic digestion is an effective biorefinery concept that can provide improved management of digestate solid waste and the production of different value-added products such as biochar, bio-syngas, and liquid bio-hydrocarbons. Therefore, using syngas generated from the gasification of a wide variety of agricultural and forestry biomass as a direct fuel for combustion or as a feedstock for FT catalysis to generate green liquid and gaseous fuels can bring many environmental and economical benefits to Canada's energy and chemical industries. Thus, the current proposal will investigate both biological and thermochemical routes involving several agro-forestry residues. The two production routes will be compared in terms of their economic viability and environmental impacts through the lifecycle and techno-economic analysis. The production route involving the integrated biological and thermochemical technologies will be scaled-up with a demonstration plant by Tidewater Renewables for continuous processing. This project's findings will benefit the Canadian energy sector by producing cost-effective biofuels.