Download or read book Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbons Via Indirect Liquefaction. Thermochemical Research Pathway to High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock Through Methanol/Dimethyl Ether Intermediates written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report was developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office's (BETO's) efforts to enable the development of technologies for the production of infrastructure-compatible, cost-competitive liquid hydrocarbon fuels from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks. The research funded by BETO is designed to advance the state of technology of biomass feedstock supply and logistics, conversion, and overall system sustainability. It is expected that these research improvements will be made within the 2022 timeframe. As part of their involvement in this research and development effort, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory investigate the economics of conversion pathways through the development of conceptual biorefinery process models and techno-economic analysis models. This report describes in detail one potential conversion process for the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction of biomass. The processing steps of this pathway include the conversion of biomass to synthesis gas or syngas via indirect gasification, gas cleanup, catalytic conversion of syngas to methanol intermediate, methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME), and catalytic conversion of DME to high-octane, gasoline-range hydrocarbon blendstock product. The conversion process configuration leverages technologies previously advanced by research funded by BETO and demonstrated in 2012 with the production of mixed alcohols from biomass. Biomass-derived syngas cleanup via reforming of tars and other hydrocarbons is one of the key technology advancements realized as part of this prior research and 2012 demonstrations. The process described in this report evaluates a new technology area for the downstream utilization of clean biomass-derived syngas for the production of high-octane hydrocarbon products through methanol and DME intermediates. In this process, methanol undergoes dehydration to DME, which is subsequently converted via homologation reactions to high-octane, gasoline-range hydrocarbon products.