Project Description:

The aim of the project is to verify the whole production chain of biomass gasification to synthesis gas using chemical looping gasification. The gas thus obtained is purified and converted to linear hydrocarbons by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. These are subsequently refined, cracked and processed into fuel components. Processes based on existing synthesis gas production technology lack economic and technological competitiveness in the current market environment. This issue is addressed by Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) in this project. The innovative CLG process uses an oxygen carrier that is cycled between a fuel and an air reactor to provide oxygen for partial conversion of the biomass feedstock. One of the benefits of CLG is that high quality syngas with low nitrogen content can be produced without an air separation unit. Avoiding air separation has high potential to improve the overall conversion efficiency and the economic feasibility of biomass gasification.

The aim of this project is to further develop CLG, which has by now only been investigated in lab-scale up to 25 kWth feedstock input, using a broad range of pilot plants up to a size of 1 MWth. Furthermore, concepts for pre-treatment of biogenic residues are developed to enable their use for CLG, and an innovative syngas cleaning concept is established for reduction of capital costs. The full process chain including biomass pre-treatment, gasification, syngas treatment, Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, and FT-wax hydrocracking is demonstrated for production of next generation sustainable liquid biofuels. The process is scaled up to industrial size using adequate models that have been validated at pilot scale.

This communication activity relates to the action CLARA. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 817841.