Utilization of Pipeline for Simultaneous Transportation and Processing of Biomass

生物质的利用是国际减缓温室气体努力的一个组成部分，目前还处于非常早期的阶段。生物质设施是示范和“实际”项目的结合，通常规模较小，使用卡车运输来运送原料。根据运输距离的不同，运输成本可能高达原材料成本的50%。越来越明显的是，规模经济要求未来的生物精炼厂达到接近石化设施的规模；在过去的几年里，包括在欧洲和美国的关键工作中，大规模的动力已经强烈地出现。大型生物精炼厂每天可能需要多达2万吨的生物质；利用管道运输和处理大量生物质正成为降低成本和道路拥堵的一种有吸引力的选择。油砂浆管道输送是一项成熟的技术，但尚未应用于生物质。在管道中同时运输和加工生物质将降低从木质纤维素生物质中生产生物产品/乙醇的成本。能够对这种利用管道运输和处理生物质的概念进行设计和经济分析的关键参数尚未测量。本研究的总体目标是实现大规模利用管道运输和加工生物质，以切碎的农业生物质和水的浆状形式。该计划的重点项目是通过实验测量向生物质管道中添加酶对关键设计参数的影响，包括输送过程中生物质在管道中的分解程度、浆液浓度的流变特性、沉降特性（包括临界速度）、最大浓度、压降、在实验室规模设置中向生物质浆液中添加酶的泵送特性。研究结果将用于开发模型，以便扩大到商业规模。申请的研究补助金将支持一个研究小组开展这项工作。

Biomass utilization, a component of international effort on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, is in its very early stages. Biomass facilities are a mix of demonstration and "real" projects, and are typically on smaller scale, using truck transportation to deliver the feedstock. Depending on the distance traveled, transport costs could be as high as 50% of the cost of raw material. It is becoming evident that the economies of scale require the future biorefineries to be of a size approaching petrochemical facilities; the drive for larger scale has emerged strongly in the last few years, including critical work in Europe and the United States. Large biorefineries could require as much as 20,000 tonnes of biomass per day; transporting and processing bulk volumes of biomass using pipeline is becoming an attractive option to reduce cost and road congestion. Slurry pipeline transport is a well established technology in the oil sands, but it has not been applied to biomass. Simultaneous transportation and processing of biomass in the pipeline would reduce the cost of production of bioproducts/ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. Critical parameters that would enable the design and economic analysis of this concept of use of pipeline for transportation and processing of biomass have not been measured. The overall goal of this research is aimed at enabling large scale utilization of pipeline for transportation and processing of biomass in the form of a slurry of chopped agricultural biomass and water. The key projects of this program, are to experimentally measure the impact of adding enzymes to the biomass pipeline on the critical design parameters, including extent of breakdown of biomass in the pipeline during transportation, rheological properties as a function of slurry concentration, settling properties (including critical velocities), maximum concentrations, pressure drops, pumping characteristics of adding of enzymes in a biomass slurry in a laboratory scale set-up. Results will be used to develop models for scale-up to commercial size. The requested research grant will support a research group to carry out this work.