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The higher temperatures also make for a better quality syngas. Conventional gasification typically produces a syngas mixture that's half hydrogen and half carbon monoxide. Sundrop's process achieves a hydrogen-to-CO ratio of two to one.
"I can tell you, the economics have been looked at quite extensively, and the idea of being able to produce gasoline at less than $2 a gallon without subsidies, we believe that's a real number," Weimer says. The financial upside is even greater if carbon pricing becomes a reality, because the solar-driven process results in a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions compared to conventional fuel production. "The key now is to design a scalable solar reactor."
Ajay Dalai, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, says powering gasification with solar energy has merit but could prove tricky. "When you're transferring the heat into the pipe, how do you make sure that it is distributed thoroughly through the biomass?" Controlling heat transfer and temperature levels will be key, he says.
Wayne Simmons, chief executive officer of Sundrop Fuels,
doesn't underestimate the challenges to commercializing the technology. He acknowledges, for example, that the greatest biomass resources aren't located where the greatest solar resources are. Still, some woody biomass does exist in the U.S. Southwest, where Sundrop plans to build its first commercial plant. States such as New Mexico and Arizona, for example, regularly thin their forests to lower the risk of forest fires. But to access more feedstock, Sundrop is also looking at transporting energy crops, such as switchgrass, by rail from as far north as Kansas and as far east as Texas.
Construction on Sundrop's first commercial facility is expected to begin this year. The company plans to couple its solar gasification plant with a pilot-scale biorefinery that can produce up to eight million gallons of transportation fuel annually. It's targeting 2015 for a full-scale biorefinery that can produce 100 million gallons a year.
The company has attracted some key investors, including venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
A New Zealand company uses microorganisms to convert carbon monoxide into ethanol and plastics precursors.
The Coskata process makes ethanol, which is not an ideal fuel. Also, the ANL report did not assume that the Coskata process was integrated with the Westinghouse Plasma gasifier. I doubt that there is a 7:1 energy return on energy investment (EROEI) when the Coskata process is included with the plasma gasification process.
This solar-biomass process makes syngas which could be used to make gasoline or diesel. These fuels are compatible with our current infrastructure.
The solar-biomass process certainly seems like an interesting idea, but what's new about it? This process could have been done years ago. The problem is that it's expensive. (Building solar collectors, pressurized gasifiers, equipment to transport the biomass to the site, equipment to store, handle and inject the biomass into the gasifier, gas clean up equipment, and slurry-bed catalyst vessels for conversion to liquid fuels.)
All processes require a lot of equipment, but this one really requires a lot of equipment, and like other solar projects, the equipment only operates on average half of the time.
It'd be nice to see some cost estimates for a commercial facility (real cost estimates...not pie-in-the-sky like Coskata or Range Fuels) and it would be nice if this article mentioned what types of fuels they plan on creating in such a commercial facility. Anybody know? Sundrop Fuel's website says nothing. I mean nothing!!!
What I don't get, is why they want to get to fuel.
If they get Hydrogen mixed with CO, they could filter the CO out and get pure hydrogen. Make it a hygrogen plant.
I'm shure the economics for pure hydrogen would be beter than fuel/methanol. no?
At this time hydrogen is produced from methane gas, I think.
What do you think?
Probably because my Ford Mustang burns gasoline, not hydrogen. ;)
Yes I understand your point, but it seems to me that hydrogen is more valuable than gasoline. If this is right, this process could be made more economically viable when selling hydrogen (needed for some industrial processes) instead of gasoline...
And eventually could supply hydrogen fuelcells for electricity production.
Hydrogen is a bitch to work with at every stage of its cycle. The higher the hydrogen content in a process the more corrosive, dangerous and expensive the operation is.
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sls1j
14 Comments
How does this fit.
I wonder how this fits into the article:
<i>Ajay Dalai, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, says powering gasification with solar energy has merit but could prove tricky. "When you're transferring the heat into the pipe, how do you make sure that it is distributed thoroughly through the biomass?" Controlling heat transfer and temperature levels will be key, he says.</a>
It seems to me that this is an attempt for "balanced" reporting, but really what is the point of even adding it?
Brian
http://www.tooele-homes.com
Reply
arnetwork
85 Comments
Re: How does this fit.
It is added into the article because it's always a good idea to inject a little reality into alternative energy schemes.
Yes, under test conditions the approach can be made to work. But, as always, how will it work in the real world where you need to have consistent quality and quantity of output at high volume and under varying conditions.
As the article points out the current process only becomes really economical when conventional forms of energy are made to be more expensive. The energy cost of transporting raw materials for input are not included in the claimed economics or referenced carbon footprint.
Carbon pricing benefits only the output not the input. It penalizes the input. The more you get at one end the more you lose at the other.
Reply
sirpoon
2 Comments
Re: How does this fit.
We have to remember that oil production is subsidized as well. So apples-to-apples comparisons in the energy production biz is never 100% possible. I mean, do we start factoring in the cost of lives for oil wars? If so then oil has the highest cost, bar none.
On a different note, I wonder if salt water can be used. Fresh water for steam, unless I am misunderstanding the process, seems like one of the most unpredictable expenses going forward for something like this.
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