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

目前，在北美，天然气（甲烷）的需求预计将上升，因为在加热建筑物，制冷和冷却设备以及作为热电联产系统的燃料方面消耗巨大。然而，由于化石资源正在耗尽并且与环境污染有关，因此非常需要天然气的替代来源。因此，生物甲烷由于其可再生性而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）路线使用农林生物质和食品废物生产。诸如气化的热化学过程使用热和化学能将生物质分解成合成气、焦油和灰分。相反，生物化学途径使用微生物或酶将生物质转化为生物甲烷。生物技术和热化学技术的结合可以为生产具有工业应用的各种生物燃料产品提供一种创新方法。此外，将气化和FT合成整合到厌氧消化是一种有效的生物精炼概念，其可以提供对固态固体废物的改进的管理和不同增值产品（例如生物炭、生物合成气和液体生物烃）的生产。因此，利用各种各样的农业和林业生物质气化产生的合成气作为燃烧的直接燃料或作为FT催化的原料来产生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，本提案将调查涉及几种农林残留物的生物和热化学途径。将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。涉及综合生物和热化学技术的生产路线将通过Tidewater Renewables的一个示范工厂扩大规模，以进行连续加工。该项目的研究结果将通过生产具有成本效益的生物燃料而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.