Author(s)

S.C. Marie-Rose, E. Chornet, D. Lynch & J.-M. Lavoie

Abstract

Recycling carbon present in residual streams enhances sustainability and creates local wealth. Enerkem Inc. is a leading biomass gasification company headquartered in Montreal, Québec. The approach Enerkem has been developing involves: identification of low cost residual streams as feedstock, sorting, biotreatment (anaerobic and/or aerobic) and preparation of an ultimate residue (RDF). The latter is a rather uniform material that can be fed, as a fluff, to a bubbling bed gasifier in a staged gasification to carry out, sequentially, the needed chemical reactions that result in high syngas yields. Process can be adjusted to reach desired gas composition for synthesis or electricity generation as well as gas conditioning to produce an ultraclean syngas. Products for such a process are: i) syngas with an appropriate range of H2/CO ratios, ii) CO2 (which is recovered), iii) solid char as a residue composed of the inorganic fraction of the raw material and some unconverted carbon that \“coats” the inorganic matrices, and iv) water that needs to be treated to meet the sewage specifications and thus be sent into the water distribution system of a given municipality. Enerkem is developing two parallel valorisation routes; a) heat and power and b) synthesis of (bio)methanol as a high yield product. The methanol is the platform intermediate that can be turned into ethanol (also with high yields), and other green chemicals. Yields of ethanol as the end product are above 350

Keywords

alcohols synthesis, syngas production, methanol, ethanol, heterogeneous catalysis, gasification