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

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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.