Supercritical water gasification of bio-oils for synthetic jet fuel – Year two

Greenfield Global is currently developing a conversion process to produce jet fuel from renewable feedstocks. Collection and densification of different biomass waste materials and municipal waste at satellite facilities to produce bio-oils, which are then processed at a central facility, is expected. The first processing step at the central facility is supercritical water gasification and it is the focus of this project. The bio-oils are converted by supercritical water gasification to produce synthesis gas. After removal of potential contaminants, the synthesis gas is converted by Fisher-Tropsch synthesis and appropriate refining steps into jet fuel. Improved understanding of how bio-oil composition affects gasification, gasifier operation, and product yields is one of the deliverables of this work. Specific attention will be paid to trace products that could affect downstream processes. The second major deliverable from this work is to establish a relationship between bio-oil properties and synthesis gas contaminants, which is critical to the appropriate design and sizing of the gas cleaning step, and would potentially qualify or disqualify bio-oils as feeds. The work will involve both experimental investigations and engineering work to integrate the know-how into the Greenfield Global process.

Faculty Supervisor:

Arno de Klerk

Student:

Natalia Rocio Montoya Sanchez

Partner:

Greenfield Global

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Alberta