Algae-based biomass for production of fuels and chemicals

由于生物质燃料和化学品在整个生命周期中温室气体（GHG）排放量较低，因此生物质燃料和化学品正受到广泛关注。本研究项目旨在评估以藻类为基础的氢气和稀释剂生产。与大多数基于农业和森林的生物量相比，藻类具有更高的生物量生产速率。沥青升级需要氢气，未来这一需求将显著增加。目前，大部分氢气是由天然气产生的。沥青与稀释剂混合用于管道运输，未来其需求也将增加。如果氢和稀释剂是由藻类生物质生产的，这将大大减少油砂的温室气体足迹。这项研究将开发数据密集的技术经济模型，以评估利用藻类生物量生产稀释剂和氢气的成本。还将对不同藻类在生命周期内的转化途径进行能源和排放评估。将研究不同转换途径的净能量比，这将有助于了解通过不同转换途径产生一个单位能量所需的能量量。将对一系列藻类生产和收获系统进行评估。该项目的结果将有助于石油工业清楚地了解藻类生物质制氢和稀释剂生产的成本。该项目旨在培养至少9名能源建模和可再生能源领域的高素质人才。这些hqp可以在加拿大快速发展的可再生能源领域发挥重要作用。

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.