We have posted several notes to you concerning the co-gasification potential of coal, biomass, and sewer sludge, with the goal of generating syngas, which can then, through several established, even well-known, catalytic processes be converted into liquid fuels and valuable raw materials for the chemical manufacturing industry.
Enclosed is yet more documentary evidence that our coal, and even our wastes, can be combined synergistically with biomass to provide both the needed raw materials with which to manufacture our liquid transportation fuels, and an inherent mechanism, the inclusion of biomass, which could, through established technologies, be intensively cultivated for the purpose of providing additional raw material for liquid fuel production, while at the same time recycling the Carbon emissions from combustion of that fuel.
The enclosed link will access another authoritative report on that subject. Some excerpts:
"Author(s):
C. Storm, H. Rudiger, H. Spliethoff, and K.R.G. Hein
C. Storm, H. Rudiger, H. Spliethoff, and K.R.G. Hein
Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Dampfkesselwesen, (Institute for Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology) University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 23, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Biomass and sewage sludge are attracting increasing interest in power planttechnology as a source of carbon-dioxide-neutral fuels. A new way to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels could be the co-combustion or co-gasification of coal and biomass or coal and sewage sludge. In both cases, pyrolysis is the first step in the technical process. In order to obtain detailed informationabout the pyrolysis of coal/biomass and coal/sewage sludge mixtures as well as unblended fuels, the “Institute für Verfahrenstechnik und Dampfkesselwesen (IVD)” at the University of Stuttgart has carried out investigations using an electrically heated entrained flow reactor. The test runs provided information about fuel conversion efficiency, pyrolysis gas and tar yield, and composition of pyrolysis gas and tar. Besides gas and tar analysis investigations regarding the path of trace elements, like heavy metals, alkali, chlorine and nitrogen components, during the pyrolysis process varying different parameters have been carried out. The fuel nitrogen distribution between pyrolysis gas, tar, and char has been analyzed, as well as the ash composition, and, thus, the release of mineral components during pyrolysis."
This report actually concerns the co-generation of syngas which would then be, in the authors' concept, directly burned in a power plant to, cleanly, generate electricity. The technology for doing so is, again, well-understood, even established. Once the syngas is obtained, though, several options exist for it's use. It can be, as in this study, combusted directly for clean power generation; or, it can be further processed, via several well-known chemical pathways, such as Fischer-Tropsch conversion, into valuable chemicals for manufacturing, or into any of several liquid fuels: methanol, diesel, and even gasoline.