The gasification process dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and was widely used during World War II. South Africa is currently using coal as a feedstock for gasification and running most of the country on its synthetic fuel production. The difference Fuel Makers wants to make is the building and managing of small, regionally distributed gasification units to bring clean, renewable energy to rural communities that have biomass being unused and or wasted.
The Biomass-To-Liquids (BTL) gasification process is a breakthrough technology. Although using established, well understood engineering designs, this technology has been re-engineered for performance suitable to small production plants at higher efficiencies than usually achieved.
Gasification occurs when a biomass is thermally decomposed in a sealed furnace-like reactor, under oxygen starved conditions. As the biomass degrades in 700-800C temperatures, it releases syngas. Syngas is comprised of primarily hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen which are the basic building blocks for fuel synthesis. The syngas is flammable and can be cleaned and fed directly into an internal combustion engine coupled to a generator for electrical production or further processed into liquid fuels or industrial chemicals.
Liquid fuels are produced when the syngas is pressurized and fed into a reactor. There, in the presence of a catalyst, hydrocarbons or alcohols can be produced.
Industrial Chemicals are produced when the syngas is either put through a Fischer Tropsch reactor or if it undergoes a BioCatTM process.
Biomass
The Biomass-to-Liquids (BTL) flexible feedstock system can efficiently gasify ANY biomass and convert it into liquid fuels. Biomass gasification is very efficient. By utilizing the BTL gasification technology, Fuel Makers facilities will have energy-conversion efficiency in excess of 85% biomass to syngas.
Cellulosic biomass, in its many forms, is the most abundant and only practical near-term material available to satisfy the world’s rapidly growing demand for carbon-neutral liquid fuels.
The abundance, global distribution, and variety of cellulosic biomass enables it to be utilized in virtually any market while its potential can be harnessed in ways that suit local conditions. Unlike wind and solar power, cellulosic biomass can produce both base load electricity supplies and various liquid transportation fuels. This can revitalize rural economies while producing clean fuels for urban consumption.
Feedstock sources, which can be used for our gasification processes include:
MSW:
