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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Cellulosic Biomass Sugars to Advantage Jet Fuel: Catalytic Conversion of Corn Stover to Energy Dense, Low Freeze Point Paraffins and Naphthenes (CRADA CRD-12-462 Final Report)

NREL will provide scientific and engineering support to Virent Energy Systems in three technical areas: Process Development/Biomass Deconstruction; Catalyst Fundamentals; and Technoeconomic Analysis. The overarching objective of this project is to develop the first fully integrated process that can convert a lignocellulosic feedstock (e.g., corn stover) efficiently and cost effectively to a mix of hydrocarbons ideally suited for blending into jet fuel. The proposed project will investigate the integration of Virent Energy System's novel aqueous phase reforming (APR) catalytic conversion technology (BioForming) with deconstruction technologies being investigated by NREL at the 1-500 L scale. Corn stover was chosen as a representative large volume, sustainable feedstock.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Biomass supply chain equipment for renewable fuels production: A review

The production of renewable fuels is a critical component of global strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, the collection of raw materials for its production can provide added benefits such as reduction of wildfire risk, additional income for farmers, and decreased disposal costs. Although there is substantial literature on design and modeling of supply chains, the authors were unable to find a single reference with the information needed for the selection and cost estimation of each type of equipment involved in the supply chain. Therefore, the goal of this research is to gather information necessary for the construction and utilization of models that might drive the identification of a feasible supply chain to produce renewable fuels at a commercial scale. The primary objectives are to 1) understand the supply chain of critical feedstocks for renewable fuels production; 2) identify the equipment commercially available for collection and adequation of feedstock; and 3) consolidate information regarding equipment cost, energy consumption, and efficiency, as well as feedstock storage and transportation systems. This paper provides a compilation for five feedstock types studied for sustainable aviation fuel production: 1) agricultural residues and grasses, 2) forest residues, 3) urban wood waste, 4) oilseeds, 5) fats, oils & greases. All the technologies involved from the field to the gate of the preprocessing or conversion unit were reviewed. The information on fats, oils & greases supply chains and equipment purposely designed for forest thinning and pruning was very limited.

: Feedstock, Collection and Adequation, Renewable ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Predictive modeling to de-risk bio-based manufacturing by adapting to variability in lignocellulosic biomass supply

Commercial-scale bio-refineries are designed to process 2000 tons/day of single lignocellulosic biomass. Several geographical areas in the United States generate diverse feedstocks that, when combined, can be substantial for bio-based manufacturing. Blending multiple feedstocks is a strategy being investigated to expand bio-based manufacturing outside Corn Belt. Here in this study, we developed a model to predict continuous envelopes of biomass blends that are optimal for a given pretreatment condition to achieve a predetermined sugar yield or vice versa. For example, our model predicted more than 60% glucose yield can be achieved by treating an equal part blend of energy cane, corn stover, and switchgrass with alkali pretreatment at 120 °C for 14.8 h. Finally, by using ionic liquid to pretreat an equal part blend of the biomass feedstocks at 160 °C for 2.2 h, we achieved 87.6% glucose yield. Such a predictive model can potentially overcome dependence on a single feedstock.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Improving biodiesel monoglyceride determination by ASTM method D6584-17

Biodiesels produced from commercial and non-traditional feedstocks were analyzed by ASTM D6584-17 for monoglyceride (monoacylglycerol, or MG) content. It was found that D6584-17 as currently written may not accurately determine MGs from conventional feedstocks due to significant differences in retention time using modern instrumentation. For biodiesel from non-traditional feedstocks, D6584-17 did not sufficiently account for MGs containing fatty acids outside of C16 and C18 species. This led to under- and over-reporting of MGs, as critical components were not accurately measured. Improvements to the method were made through a three-step process. First, a standard mixture of MGs was run to determine the retention time of individual MGs that could be present in the samples from C10 to C24. An additional analysis for the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile was used to determine the major MG species present in the biodiesel samples, using the assumption that the MG profile was proportional to the FAME profile. The biodiesel samples were analyzed by D6584-17, and the MGs were identified using retention time matching, based on the major species expected from measuring the FAME profile. Here, by combining these two methods, the accuracy of MG determination by D6584-17 was improved for biodiesels prepared from all feedstocks.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quantitative multiphase model for hydrothermal liquefaction of algal biomass

Here, optimized incorporation of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL, reaction in water at elevated temperature and pressure) within an integrated biorefinery requires accurate models to predict the quantity and quality of all HTL products. Existing models primarily focus on biocrude product yields with limited consideration for biocrude quality and aqueous, gas, and biochar co-products, and have not been validated with an extensive collection of feedstocks. In this study, HTL experiments (300 °C, 30 min) were conducted using 24 different batches of microalgae feedstocks with distinctive feedstock properties, which resulted in a wide range of biocrude (21.3–54.3 dry weight basis, dw%), aqueous (4.6–31.2 dw%), gas (7.1–35.6 dw%), and biochar (1.3–35.0 dw%) yields. Based on these results, a multiphase component additivity (MCA) model was introduced to predict yields and characteristics of the HTL biocrude product and aqueous, gas, and biochar co-products, with only feedstock biochemical (lipid, protein, carbohydrate, and ash) and elemental (C/H/N) composition as model inputs. Biochemical components were determined to distribute across biocrude product/HTL co-products as follows: lipids to biocrude; proteins to biocrude > aqueous > gas; carbohydrates to gas ≈ biochar > biocrude; and ash to aqueous > biochar. Modeled quality indicators included biocrude C/H/N contents, higher heating value (HHV), and energy recovery (ER); aqueous total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents; and biochar carbon content. The model was validated with HTL data from the literature, the potential to expand the application of this modeling framework to include waste biosolids (e.g., wastewater sludge, manure) was explored, and future research needs for industrial application were identified. Ultimately, the MCA model represents a critical step towards the integration of cultivation models with downstream HTL and biorefinery operations to enable system-level optimization, valorization of co-product streams (e.g., through catalytic hydrothermal gasification and nutrient recovery), and the navigation of tradeoffs across the value chain.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

A new bioenergy model that simulates the impacts of plant‐microbial interactions, soil carbon protection, and mechanistic tillage on soil carbon cycling

Abstract Advancing our predictive understanding of bioenergy systems is critical to design decision tools that can inform which feedstock to plant, where to plant it, and how to manage its production to provide both energy and ecosystem carbon (C) benefits. Here, we lay the foundation for that advancement by integrating recent developments in the science of belowground processes in shaping the C cycle into a new bioenergy model, FUN‐BioCROP (Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen‐Bioenergy Carbon, Rhizosphere, Organisms, and Protection). We show that FUN‐BioCROP can approximate the historical trajectory of soil C dynamics as natural ecosystems were successively converted into intensive agriculture and bioenergy systems. This ability relies in part on a novel tillage representation that mechanistically models tillage as a process that increases microbial access to C. Importantly, the impacts of tillage and feedstock choice also influence FUN‐BioCROP simulations of warming responses with no‐till perennial feedstocks, miscanthus, and switchgrass, having more C that is unprotected and susceptible to warming than tilled annual feedstocks like corn–corn–soybean. However, this susceptibility to warming is balanced by a greater potential for increases in belowground C allocation to enhance soil C stocks in perennial systems. Collectively, our model results highlight the importance of belowground processes in evaluating the ecosystem C benefits of bioenergy production.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Generation of a platform strain for ionic liquid tolerance using adaptive laboratory evolution

There is a need to replace petroleum-derived with sustainable feedstocks for chemical production. Certain biomass feedstocks can meet this need as abundant, diverse, and renewable resources. Specific ionic liquids (ILs) can play a role in this process as promising candidates for chemical pretreatment and deconstruction of plant-based biomass feedstocks as they efficiently release carbohydrates which can be fermented. However, the most efficient pretreatment ILs are highly toxic to biological systems, such as microbial fermentations, and hinder subsequent bioprocessing of fermentative sugars obtained from IL-treated biomass. To generate strains capable of tolerating residual ILs present in treated feedstocks, a tolerance adaptive laboratory evolution (TALE) approach was developed and utilized to improve growth of two different Escherichia coli strains, DH1 and K-12 MG1655, in the presence of two different ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C 2 C 1 Im][OAc] ) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C 4 C 1 Im]Cl). For multiple parallel replicate populations of E. coli , cells were repeatedly passed to select for improved fitness over the course of approximately 40 days. Clonal isolates were screened and the best performing isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing. The most prevalent mutations in tolerant clones occurred in transport processes related to the functions of mdtJI , a multidrug efflux pump, and yhdP , an uncharacterized transporter. Additional mutations were enriched in processes such as transcriptional regulation and nucleotide biosynthesis. Finally, the best-performing strains were compared to previously characterized tolerant strains and showed superior performance in tolerance of different IL and media combinations (i.e., cross tolerance) with robust growth at 8.5% (w/v) and detectable growth up to 11.9% (w/v) [C 2 C 1 Im][OAc]. The generated strains thus represent the best performing platform strains available for bioproduction utilizing IL-treated renewable substrates, and the TALE method was highly successful in overcoming the general issue of substrate toxicity and has great promise for use in tolerance engineering.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Accurately estimating and minimizing costs for the cellulosic biomass supply chain with statistical process control and the Taguchi Loss Function

This research focuses on the statistical evaluation of the feedstock attributes of the biomass supply chain and the estimation of attribute costs as a function of the feedstock variability. Challenges of using cellulosic feedstocks include the variability of feedstock quality (e.g., ash content and moisture content), which impacts the final cost of the manufactured product. Statistical Process Control (SPC), Taguchi Loss Function, and components of variance techniques were illustrated for quantifying cumulative variance in the biomass supply chain. Costs in the presence of cumulative variance were estimated for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and loblolly pine residues (Pinus taeda L.). Findings of the study indicated that additional costs from ash content variability in switchgrass increased the net cost by $\$19.15$ per dry tonne. Additional costs from densification due to particle size variation increased net cost by $\$11.59$ per dry tonne. Moisture content variation increased costs by $\$14.86$ per dry tonne. This would represent a 50 to 100% increase in costs due to variation based on a $\$60$ to $\$70$ per dry tonne manufactured product cost. This study illustrates that total costs may be considerably underestimated if the influence of variance for key factors in the supply chain and associated costs are not estimated.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

A Case Study of Agricultural Residue Availability and Cost for a Cellulosic Ethanol Conversion Facility in the Henan Province of China

A preliminary analysis of the availability and cost of corn stover and wheat straw for the area surrounding a demonstration biorefinery in the Henan Province of China was performed as a case study of potential cooperative analyses of bioenergy feedstocks between researchers and industry in the US and China. Though limited in scope, the purpose of this analysis is to provide insight into some of the issues and challenges of estimating feedstock availability in China and how this relates to analyses of feedstocks in the U.S. Completing this analysis also highlighted the importance of improving communication between U.S. researchers and Chinese collaborators. Understanding the units and terms used in the data provided by Tianguan proved to be a significant challenge. This was further complicated by language barriers between collaborators in the U.S. and China. The Tianguan demonstration biorefinery has a current capacity of 3k tons (1 million gallons) of cellulosic ethanol per year with plans to scale up to 10k tons (3.34 million gallons) per year. Using data provided by Tianguan staff in summer of 2011, the costs and availability of corn stover and wheat straw were estimated. Currently, there are sufficient volumes of wheat straw and corn stover that are considered 'waste' and would likely be available for bioenergy in the 20-km (12-mile) region surrounding the demonstration biorefinery at a low cost. However, as the industry grows, competition for feedstock will grow and prices are likely to rise as producers demand additional compensation to fully recover costs.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Driftless Area Initiative Biomass Energy Project

The Driftless Area Initiative Biomass Energy Project evaluated the potential for biomass energy production and utilization throughout the Driftless Region of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The research and demonstration aspect of the project specifically focused on biomass energy feedstock availability and production potential in the region, as well as utilization potential of biomass feedstocks for heat, electrical energy production, or combined heat and power operations. The Driftless Region was evaluated because the topography of the area offers more acres of marginal soils on steep slopes, wooded areas, and riparian corridors than the surrounding “Corn Belt”. These regional land characteristics were identified as potentially providing opportunity for biomass feedstock production that could compete with traditional agriculture commodity crops economically. The project researched establishment methods and costs for growing switchgrass on marginal agricultural lands to determine the economic and quantitative feasibility of switchgrass production for biomass energy purposes. The project was successful in identifying the best management and establishment practices for switchgrass in the Driftless Area, but also demonstrated that simple economic payback versus commodity crops could not be achieved at the time of the research. The project also analyzed the availability of woody biomass and production potential for growing woody biomass for large scale biomass energy production in the Driftless Area. Analysis determined that significant resources exist, but costs to harvest and deliver to the site were roughly 60% greater than that of natural gas at the time of the study. The project contributed significantly to identifying both production potential of biomass energy crops and existing feedstock availability in the Driftless Area. The project also analyzed the economic feasibility of dedicated energy crops in the Driftless Area. High commodity crop prices and land values coupled with low fossil fuel prices, particularly natural gas, hampered the likelihood of widespread production and/or utilization of for large scale heating or electrical generation at the time of the study.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

BETO 2021 Peer Review - Separations in Support of Arresting Anaerobic Digestion

In support of the Bioenergy Technologies Office in converting waste feedstocks to fuels and chemicals, this project develops and demonstrates an advanced system for the production of platform carboxylic acids by Arresting Anaerobic Digestion (AAD) of wet waste feedstocks. The project addresses three technology barriers in developing the bioeconomy; (1) Feedstock availability and cost (2) Selective separation of organic acid species, and (3) First-of-a-kind technology development. This project has developed an advanced AAD system with separations that can operate in high solids environments (> 10 wt.%) and is net positive in energy consumption compared to the energy content of the carboxylic acids. Operating an in situ product recovery (ISPR) system in high solids is required for fermentation produced intermediates beyond ethanol that have volatilities less than water (e.g. carboxylic acids). Carboxylic acids form a versatile platform for the production of renewable diesel fuel, aviation fuel, monomers, and chemicals. A high solids ISPR system expands the feedstocks for AAD, which have been restricted to thin stillage, to solid food waste. Additionally, current AAD technology employs separations that consume >200x the energy content of the produced acids. This project has developed and demonstrated the first AAD technology with ISPR that is net negative in energy value and operates in solids contents >10 wt.% to produce a mixed carboxylic acid product that is carbon negative.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Resource Mobilization

The project goals are to identify the risks and opportunities for increasing feedstock mobilization through increased grower adoption and to identify leverage points of non-biofuel feedstock industries to grow the mobilized resource base as this will provide consistent, economical access to biomass feedstocks that represent a barrier to the establishment and growth of a biofuel industry.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

EISA (Energy Independence and Security Act) compliant ethanol fuel from corn stover in a depot-based decentralized system

Cellulosic biofuels face significant problems of feedstock aggregation and logistics leading to poor economies of scale. The current model is based on relatively small biorefineries using locally-gathered feedstocks. Here, we examine the potential capacity of a hypothetically distributed, depot-based, biorefinery system to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn stover in the United States Midwest. The local depots serve to aggregate, pretreat and densify biomass (via pellets), which are collected, transported, and fed to a few very large, cellulosic ethanol biorefineries. We found that a corn stover-based depot system would help establish one or two very large-scale biorefineries capable of processing about 8-12% of total corn stover available in the United States Midwest. About 55-153 depots could supply the pretreated pellets to each distributed biorefinery leading to an annual production of 1.02 - 2.91 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol. Most of the participating depots would be located in Illinois and Iowa. The ethanol selling price in this depot-based biorefinery system would varys between U$S 0.67 and U$S 0.72 liter-1. The estimated range of GHG savings from cellulosic ethanol in the depot system compared to gasoline was 3.35-4.84 Tg CO2 year-1. In addition of being economically competitive, a distributed, depot-based, biorefinery system could meet the 60% GHG reduction requirement of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA).

Biorefinery, Cellulosic biofuel, Corn stover, Dist↗
DOE OSTI2019

Potential synergies of drop-in biofuel production with further co-processing at oil refineries

Drop-in biofuels have been defined as functionally equivalent to petroleum-based transportation fuels and are fully compatible with the existing petroleum infrastructure. They will be essential in sectors such as aviation if we are to achieve emission reduction and climate mitigation goals. Currently, 'conventional' drop-in biofuels, which are primarily based on upgrading of lipids / oleochemicals, are the only significant source of commercial volumes of drop-in biofuels. However, the necessary increased, future volumes will likely come from 'advanced' drop-in biofuels based on biomass feedstocks such as forest and agriculture residues. Biocrudes / bio-oils produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks using thermochemical technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal liquefaction need to be further upgraded to drop-in biofuels. However, advanced drop-in biofuels have been slow to reach commercial maturity due to significant technical challenges, high capital costs, and the challenge of generally lower oil prices. It is likely that the co-processing of drop-in biofuels with conventional petroleum refining could considerably reduce capital costs. Initially, co-processing is likely to be established through the upgrading of conventional / oleochemical feedstocks (lipids). Lipids are readily available in large volumes (global production in 2017 was ~185 million metric tonnes) and can be more easily integrated into oil-refinery processes. In contrast, lignocellulose-derived biocrudes / bio-oils are not yet available in significant volumes and are more complex to co-process in a refinery. The likely strategies for co-processing of oleochemicals (lipids) and bio-oil and biocrude feedstocks based on different insertion points within the refinery infrastructure are discussed.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Supply analysis of preferential market incentive for energy crops

This analysis explores the valuation of feedstock quality attributes of switchgrass and miscanthus – two energy crops poised for future expansion – and compares the relative economic availability of these two crops under two scenarios: (i) uniform price assumptions (i.e., no incentive for quality), and (ii) a scenario of a price premium based on convertibility (i.e., an incentive for quality). Given data on cellulose content, hemicellulose content, and their relative convertibility, miscanthus is expected to be 11% more efficient at conversion to biofuels than switchgrass under the biochemical conversion route. Based on this scenario of improved conversion efficiency and associated profit, we simulate an 11% price premium for miscanthus over other feedstocks in a base-case scenario. By adding this price premium, supplies of miscanthus increase over the base case by about 4 million (44%), 94 million (64%), and 166 million (94%) tons in year 0, 10, and 20 after simulated contracts for production are initiated respectively. These results emphasize that custom simulations are needed to quantify feedstock availability if supplies are intended to reflect grower response to industry demands for feedstock quality specifications. Farmers can grow ‘peas or carrots’, and price signals from biorefineries will influence what energy crops they produce. Recognizing that the energy crop mix is tractable according to quality characteristics is relevant both for near-term and long-term biofuels research and development. Here, we recommend accounting for market preferences for quality attributes when estimating potential future supplies of energy crops.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Adoption of biofuels for marine shipping decarbonization: A long‐term price and scalability assessment

Abstract This study assessed the long‐term annual biofuel production capacity potential and price in the United States and shed light on the prospect of biofuel adoption for marine propulsion. A linear programming model was developed to assist the projections and provide insightful analyses. The projected long‐term (2040) maximum annual capacity of biofuels in the United States is 245 million metric tons (Mt) or 65 billion gallons of heavy fuel oil gallon equivalent (HFOGE) when based on the median feedstock availability. Between 2022 (near‐term) and 2040, the potential biofuel capacity increases by over 40%, attributed to increased feedstock availability. At a price range up to $500/t, biodiesel is the main product, and the annual capacity (12 Mt) is limited to feedstock availability constraints. Biodiesel and corn ethanol are the main biofuels at a price range up to $750/t. At a higher price point (above $750/t), the biofuel types and annual capacities increase substantially (218 Mt per year). Biofuels above this price include gasoline‐, jet‐, and diesel‐range blendstocks, as well as bio‐methanol, bio‐propane, and biogas. This study concludes that the US domestic feedstock availability coupled with advanced conversion technologies can produce substantial amounts of biofuels to achieve a critical mass and be impactful as alternative marine fuels. There is also a need to improve the biofuel price for marine shipping adoption. Policies and economic incentives that provide temporary financial support would help facilitate maritime biofuel adoption. © 2022 Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies

The production of short rotation woody crops (SRWCs) such as poplars and willows is a promising component of global bioenergy and phytotechnology portfolios. In addition to the provision of biomass feedstocks and pollution remediation, these trees and shrubs have been sustainably grown to conserve or utilize water in a variety of applications. Growing these woody plants for multiple uses supports many of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6) and Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG7). As a result, focusing on ecosystem services such as freshwater and biomass has become an important aspect of deploying these production systems across variable landscapes. The current review consists of an introduction of ecosystem services and the SDGs, as well as SRWCs and their applications. The middle section of the review contains case studies highlighting the positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies. The review concludes with a section that combines the common themes that are consistent among the case studies to address options for integrating new bioenergy feedstock production systems into rural and urban landscapes to promote environmental, social and economic sustainability. This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Economics and Policy Bioenergy > Climate and Environment

biomass production↗