US-12617677-B1 - Process and apparatus for producing renewable fuels

US12617677B1US 12617677 B1US12617677 B1US 12617677B1US-12617677-B1

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to processes and apparatus for producing fuels and fuel compositions. In an aspect, a process for converting a carbon-containing feedstock is provided. The process includes drying a carbon-containing feedstock comprising biomass to form a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material, and hydrotreating the terpene stream to form a first hydrocarbon stream. The process further includes gasifying the dried carbon-containing material to form syngas, converting the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream, and introducing the first hydrocarbon stream and the second hydrocarbon stream to form a fuel composition.

Inventors

Joseph M. Ellsworth

Assignees

THE BOEING COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220506

Claims (16)

1 . A process, comprising: drying a carbon-containing feedstock comprising biomass to form a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material using an integrated apparatus comprising a drying unit coupled to a gasification unit and coupled to a hydrotreatment unit, wherein the drying unit is coupled to the gasification unit via a first material transfer line and to the hydrotreatment unit via a second material transfer line, and wherein the dried carbon-containing material is directly transferred from the drying unit to the gasification unit through the first material transfer line; hydrotreating the terpene stream to form a first hydrocarbon stream; gasifying the dried carbon-containing material to form a syngas; converting the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream; and combining the first hydrocarbon stream and the second hydrocarbon stream in a collection unit coupled to both the hydrotreatment unit and a syngas conversion unit to form a fuel composition, wherein the collection unit comprises a first inlet line receiving the first hydrocarbon stream from the hydrotreatment unit and a second inlet line receiving the second hydrocarbon stream from the syngas conversion unit, and wherein the collection unit is configured to blend the first and second hydrocarbon streams.
2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the converting the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream in the syngas conversion unit comprises: introducing the syngas to a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst; or introducing the syngas to a microorganism.
3 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the microorganism comprises Moorella, Clostridium including Clostridium autoethanogenum, Ruminococcus, Acetobacterium, Eubacterium, Butyribacterium, Oxobacter, Methanosarcina, Desulfotomaculum , or combinations thereof.
4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein: the syngas comprises H 2 and CO; and the syngas has a molar ratio of H 2 :CO from about 1.8:1 to about 2.1:1.
5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first hydrocarbon stream comprises diesel fuel, jet fuel, or a combination thereof.
6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second hydrocarbon stream comprises diesel fuel, jet fuel, or a combination thereof.
7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first hydrocarbon stream is different from the second hydrocarbon stream.
8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein hydrogen for hydrotreating the terpene stream is formed by electrolysis, steam-methane reforming, gasification, or combinations thereof.
9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the terpene stream comprises an amount of α-pinene and β-pinene of about 50 wt % or more.
10 . A process, comprising: converting biomass to a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material using an integrated apparatus comprising a coupling between processing units; introducing the terpene stream with hydrogen and a hydrotreatment catalyst to form a first hydrocarbon stream; introducing the dried carbon-containing material with a gasification agent to form a syngas, wherein the dried carbon-containing material is transferred from a drying unit to a gasification unit through a material transfer line; converting at least a portion of the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream comprising: introducing the syngas to a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst to form the second hydrocarbon stream; or introducing the syngas to a microorganism to form ethanol and oligomerizing ethanol to form the second hydrocarbon stream; and combining the first hydrocarbon stream to the second hydrocarbon stream in a shared collection unit to form a fuel composition, wherein the shared collection unit is positioned to receive streams from multiple processing units via separate inlet lines and is configured to blend the streams.
11 . The process of claim 10 , wherein when the process comprises introducing the syngas to a microorganism to form ethanol and oligomerizing ethanol to form the second hydrocarbon stream, the microorganism comprises Moorella, Clostridium including Clostridium autoethanogenum, Ruminococcus, Acetobacterium, Eubacterium, Butyribacterium, Oxobacter, Methanosarcina, Methanosarcina, Desulfotomaculum , or combinations thereof.
12 . The process of claim 11 , wherein the oligomerizing ethanol comprises: dehydrating ethanol to form ethylene; oligomerizing the ethylene to form a C 3 to C 8 olefin; and oligomerizing the C 3 to C 8 olefin to form the second hydrocarbon stream.
13 . The process of claim 11 , wherein the oligomerizing ethanol comprises introducing ethanol to a zeolite to form the second hydrocarbon stream, the second hydrocarbon stream comprising a C 2 -C 12 olefin.
14 . The process of claim 10 , wherein the syngas comprises H 2 and CO, and the syngas has a molar ratio of H 2 :CO from about 1.8:1 to about 2.1:1.
15 . The process of claim 10 , wherein the first hydrocarbon stream comprises diesel fuel, jet fuel, or a combination thereof.
16 . The process of claim 10 , wherein the second hydrocarbon stream comprises diesel fuel, jet fuel, or a combination thereof.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) The present disclosure claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/186,064 filed May 7, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to processes and apparatus for producing fuels and fuel compositions, and more specifically, to processes and apparatus for converting biomass into renewable fuels and compositions. BACKGROUND The development of sustainable and renewable sources of energy, including renewable fuels, to meet global energy demands is of great interest. Biomass, which is derived from, e.g., plant-based materials, is one such renewable energy source. As a source of carbon, biomass can be converted into a variety of valuable products and fuels useful for transportation such as jet fuel, diesel fuel, and gasoline. Conventional methods for converting biomass to fuels remain inefficient in terms of volumes produced from the biomass inputs. There is a need for new and improved processes and apparatus for the production of fuels and fuel compositions from biomass. SUMMARY Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to processes and apparatus for producing fuels and fuel compositions. In an aspect, a process for converting a carbon-containing feedstock is provided. The process includes drying a carbon-containing feedstock comprising biomass to form a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material, and hydrotreating the terpene stream to form a first hydrocarbon stream. The process further includes gasifying the dried carbon-containing material to form syngas, converting the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream, and introducing the first hydrocarbon stream and the second hydrocarbon stream to form a fuel composition. In another aspect, a process for converting biomass is provided. The process includes converting biomass to a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material, and introducing the terpene stream with hydrogen and a hydrotreatment catalyst to form a first hydrocarbon stream. The process further includes introducing the dried carbon-containing material with a gasification agent to form syngas and converting at least a portion of the syngas to a second hydrocarbon stream. Converting at least a portion of the syngas to the second hydrocarbon stream includes introducing the syngas to a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst to form a second hydrocarbon stream, or introducing the syngas to a microorganism to form ethanol and oligomerizing ethanol to form a second hydrocarbon stream. The process further includes introducing the first hydrocarbon stream to the second hydrocarbon stream to form a fuel composition. In another aspect, an apparatus for converting a carbon-containing feedstock is provided. The apparatus includes a drying unit coupled at a first end with a first end of a gasification unit, the drying unit further coupled at a second end with a first end of a hydrotreatment unit. The apparatus further includes a syngas conversion unit coupled at a first end with a second end of the gasification unit, and a collection unit coupled at a first end with a second end of the hydrotreatment unit, the collection unit further coupled at a second end with a second end of the syngas conversion unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the manner in which the above recited features can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to example aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. FIG. 1A is an example apparatus utilized for performing one or more operations of converting a carbon-containing feedstock to hydrocarbon products according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 1B is an example syngas conversion unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1A according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 1C is an example oligomerization unit of the syngas conversion unit shown in FIG. 1B according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 shows selected operations of an example process for converting a carbon-containing feedstock to a hydrocarbon product according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is an example drying unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1A according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to processes and apparatus for producing fuels and fuel compositions. The inventor has found new and improved processes for manufacturing fuel compositions (or additives to be used in fuel compositions) from carbon-containing feedstocks such as biomass. Briefly, the process includes drying a carbon-containing feedstock to provide a terpene stream and a dried carbon-containing material. The terpene stream is converted to useful hydrocarbon products by hydrotreatment, while the dried carbon-containing material is co