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By: Karl Seck, Mercurius Biorefining
April 2014
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Modified from Biofuels Digest, 4/18/2011
Lower left quadrant:
Liquid phase = smaller equipment.
Catalytic = faster = smaller equipment.
= Lower capital costs.
Mercurius
Biofuels Categories
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REACH Technology
Renewable Acid-hydrolysis Condensation Hydrotreating
• Acid-hydrolysis – breaks down biomass to non-sugar intermediates.
• Condensation – puts molecules together to customize carbon chain length.
• Hydrotreating – deoxygenates to drop-in hydrocarbon fuel.
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Cost Structure
OpEx:• $1.06 /gal excluding capital charges • $1.62 /gal including capital charges
CapEx: $3-5 /annual gal capacity. For example, a 15 mil gal/yr plant at $4/annual gal capacity would cost $60 million
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• Drop-in Hydrocarbon Jet Fuel• Drop-in Hydrocarbon Diesel Fuel
Fuel Products
Estimated wt%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
nC8
cycli
c C8 iC
9iC
10
cycli
c C9
nC9
iC10
iC11
cycli
c C10
nC10
cycli
c C10
cycli
c C11 iC
14iC
15
Freeze Point = - 48.4 C JP-8 (Mil.) spec < -47 C
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• Scalable, proven methodologies
• Hydrolysis similar to pulp & paper technologies
• Condensation/Hydrotreating similar to petroleum refining • Chemical products • Independent of genetic research
Technology Development Advantages
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• Build and operate at Michigan State University Bioeconomy Institute (MSUBI)
• $4.6 million matching grant from the US DOE
• 10 Dry Metric Tons/day - Hydrolysis/Condensation
• Hydrotreating - existing small scale facilities available
• Initial feedstock – local corn stover
DOE I-Pilot Plant Project
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• CSIRO (Australia) – process optimization research
• Purdue University – scientific/engineering/aviation expertise
• MSUBI - Pilot plant facilities
• UC Davis – Hydrolysis technology and IP • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) – past hydrotreating and catalyst development
• Haldor Topsoe - catalyst / hydrotreating technology
Key Partners
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• Agriculture and biomass preparation
• Life cycle analysis
• Science/engineering – micro pilot
• Aviation expertise
Purdue
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• Existing reactor systems
• Existing infrastructure
• Experienced workforce
MSUBI