Syngas
Biofuels Energy, Inc.
Home About Us Biomass Myth Glycerol to Syngas Corporate Contact Us Search The Company Changing the World
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Home About Us Biomass Myth Glycerol to Syngas Corporate Contact Us Search The Company Changing the World |
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Economics Related to Butanol Manufacturing Costs 1. Gasification-based syngas manufacture Essentially any type of coal (or any other fuel) may be used for the process. The composition of the resulting syngas, and its BTU content will vary. The ratio of BTU used for fermentation to the amount of the final product will be the same as below unless the further biocatalyst improvement has been made during the process. Case study: The Butanol plant along with the Butanol storage and Gas blending facilities are owned by the Coal Mine Company. The economics is developed for our proprietary manufacturing process using our genetically engineered biocatalyst.
Syngas-to-Butanol Two chemical reactions take place during microbial fermentation of syngas to butanol using metabolically engineered biocatalyst:
Air-blown gasification using 400 MM BTU/h gasifier and PRB coal supplies syngas with 30.1 % CO, 18.1 % H2, 3.5 % CO2, 42.3 % of N2 and various impurities the balance at final energy content of 200 BTU/SCF. Following the chemical equations above, 580 SCF of syngas at 200 BTU/SCF is required to make 1 gallon of 100% butanol. The fuel cost is ~ $2.00 per MM BTU. Gasification efficiency of about 80% brings the fuel cost to ~ $2.50 per MM BTU or $0.29 per gallon of 100% butanol. The operation and maintenance (O & M) cost is $0.227 per gallon of 100% butanol (includes evaporation of water and butanol handling). The O & M cost for gasification is $3.80/ton of coal (8,800 BTU/lb), equivalent to 17.6 MM BTU or 88,000 SCF. Five hundred eighty SCF (580 SCF) is needed to produce 1 gallon of 100% butanol using our proprietary technology. Thus the O & M cost of gasification is $0.025 per gallon of butanol. The total butanol cost per gallon is = $0.29 + $0.025 + $0.227 = $0.542 flat after the Cap Ex* was paid off within the FIRST year of manufacture assuming that the plant operates at 100% capacity after it was built**. The CapEx include: 400 MM BTU/h gasifier - $M65 Butanol bioreactors and evaporation equipment ($1.25 per each gallon of 100% butanol x 30 M Gpy) - $M37.5 100% butanol storage tank - $M1.5 Gasoline storage tank - $M1.5 Blending tank - $M1.5*** Pipelines, loading docks at the site - $M1.00 TOTAL CAP EX - $M108 for the whole complex at the coal mine site. *Heat exchangers, steam turbines and electric are not included yet - 35% of produced syngas BTU may be recovered as the electric energy at 0.293 W/h (an equivalent of 1BTU) during syngas cooling down from above 1,800 - 2,000oF to below 120oF. **The Federal regulations already established $0.60 tax credit for each gallon of biofuel gas extender other than ethanol blended with gasoline - not included. ***Blending O & M is not included. 2. Steam Reforming Reaction-based syngas manufacture Steam Reforming Reaction (SRR) is a part of modern technology cycle to produce H2 from fossil materials, mostly natural gas, which is a mixture of carbohydrates, according to a general equation: CnHm + n H2O = n CO + (m/2 + n) H2 Let us present an example based on SRR of methane (CH4): CH4 + H2O = CO + 3 H2 The reaction is endothermic. High-temperature steam (~700,0 - 1,000oC, or 1,300 - 1,800oF) reacts with methane and/or any other gaseous carbohydrate at 3 - 25 bar pressure (43.5 - 362.5 psi) in the presence of a nickel-containing catalyst to produce CO and H2 at the molar ratio ~ 1 : 3 and plus negligible amounts of CO2. Resulted syngas has a composition somewhat different from that if coal is used as a fuel for gasification. SRR does not need expensive gasifiers. During scaling up the capital costs for syngas from steam reforming of natural gas are much lower as compared to that if coal (petroleum coke) is used. Since fermentation requires syngas at below 120oF, the balance heat may be recovered up to 80% and used to generate electricity or otherwise be incorporated into the process. The fuel cost is $6.00 for 1,000 SCF (~ 1 MM BTU) and up in the US and Europe. Certain regions of Eastern Europe offer the natural gas at only $1.3 - 1.4 for 1,000 SCF FOB the well, and thus it is less expensive than coal if the biofuel manufacture is also based at the natural gas well location. Case study: The Butanol plant along with the Butanol storage and Gas blending facilities do not need to be owned by the Natural Gas Producing Company. Methane, the fuel to make syngas via SRR, is supplied via pipes. This is the economics of syngas fermentation by genetically engineered biocatalyst developed by Syngas Biofuels Energy, Inc.
Natural gas-to Syngas-to-Butanol Steam reforming of natural gas produces syngas. Two chemical reactions take place during microbial fermentation of syngas to butanol using metabolically engineered biocatalyst:
11 CO + 15 H2O = 4 CO2 + 1.74 Butanol + 0.03 Cell Carbon
Such syngas energy value is ~ 350 BTU/SCF. Under 91 - 95% of natural gas steam-reformed and steam removal the resulting syngas has approximate composition of ~ 79% CO, 10% H2, and ~1% CO2. Following the chemical equations above, 448.2 SCF of syngas is required to make 1 gallon of 100% butanol. The reforming process provides molar ratio of produced syngas to the fuel (methane) as ~3.3. Thus 1,000 SCF of methane corresponds 3,300 SCF of syngas. The fuel cost is $1.4 per 1,000 SCF of natural gas or per 3,300 SCF of resulted syngas. 3,300 SCF of syngas corresponds to 7.363 gallons of 100% butanol, which brings the fuel cost to $0.1915. The operation and maintenance (O & M) cost is $0.227 per gallon of 100% butanol (includes evaporation of water and butanol handling). The O & M cost for reforming is $0.005 per gallon of butanol. The total butanol cost per gallon is = $0.1915 + $0.005 + $0.227 = $0.423 flat after the Cap Ex* was paid off within the FIRST year of manufacture assuming that the plant operates at 100% capacity after it was built**. The Cap Ex include: 750,000 SCF/h Methane Reformer - $M52 Butanol bioreactors and evaporation equipment ($1.25 per each gallon of 100% butanol x 47 M Gpy) - $M58.75 100% butanol storage tank - $M1.5 Gasoline storage tank - $M1.5 Blending tank - $M1.5*** Internal pipelines, loading docks - $M1.0 TOTAL CAP EX - $M116.25 for the whole complex making 47 M Gpy of fuel gas extender butanol. *Heat exchangers, steam turbines and electric are not included yet - 35% of produced syngas BTU may be recovered as the electric energy at 0.293 W/h (an equivalent of 1BTU) during syngas cooling down from above 1,800 - 2,000oF to below 120oF. **The Federal regulations already established $0.60 tax credit for each gallon of biofuel gas extender other than ethanol blended with gasoline - not included. ***Blending O & M is not included. Contact Information
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