Techno-Economic Assessment of Production

of Olefins Via Thermochemical Conversion

of Biomass (BioMTO Process)

Pedro Haro
C. Reyes Valle, A.L. Villanueva Perales, P. Ollero, J. Caraballo, J.A. Garca
Redondo, R. Arjona

Bioenergy Group (BEGUS)

Escuela de Ingenieros, University of Seville
7th June 2011, Berlin

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Main Research Lines

Bioenergy Group (BEGUS)

Biomass/waste gasification in fluidized bed

Biofuels production (BTL) via the

thermochemical route (gasification and
catalytic synthesis)

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Overview

Introduction
Biomass to Olefins Routes
Process Design & Modeling
Process Economics
Results & Discussion
Conclusions

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Introduction

Olefins: ethylene/propylene
A large-volume product in petrochemical industry
Feedstocks: crude oil, natural and associated gas
Market demand is increasing year by year
Aim of this work
Assess olefins production from biomass rather
than fossil fuels
Focus on ethylene (main olefin)

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Introduction

Two platforms:

Biochemical Platform Thermochemical Platform

Van Haveren al. (2008) preditions:

High potencial (biorefinery scenario)
Medium term for ethylene
Long term for propylene

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Biomass to Olefins Routes

Biochemical Platform
Dehydration of (bio)ethanol Ethylene
Commercial technology
Isolated locations
Severe operating conditions
Only ethylene
Dimerization/Metathesis route Propylene
Bioethanol as feedstock

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Biomass to Olefins Routes

Thermochemical Platform
Biomass gasification and catalytic synthesis
Several possible alternatives
Focused on both ethylene and propylene production
MTO (methanol to olefins) process
Focused on propylene production
MTP (methanol to propylene) process
Focused on a variety of refinery products
Vegetable oil cracking (scale-limited)

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Process Design & Modeling

Selected process for the assessment:

BioMTO

Syngas MeOH
Biomass MeOH Cryogenic
cleaning & cracking
gasification synthesis distillation
conditioning (MTO)

2140 dry tonnes/day of poplar chips (500 MWHHV)

High ethylene production mode
Energy self-sufficient and electrical energy neutral
plant
19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
 Process Design & Modeling
Syngas
Biomass MeOH
cleaning &
gasification synthesis
conditioning

Flue gas

Gasifier: indirectly heated CFB

Cleaning
LP steam HP steam Oil Air Water

(Batelle Columbus Laboratory)

Gasification
Biomass Dryer Milling Cyclon HRSG OLGA Scrubber
bed

Sand Sand &

Char

Raw syngas conditioning by

Particles
HRSG -Dust
Combustor -NH3
-Alkali
Flue gas Air &Tars -HCl
-Tars

LP steam Ash

SMR and CO2 capture

Purge
to combine
Liquid Phase Methanol
synthesis reactor (CCT project)
cycle

Pur Combustor
ge
Ai

Heat and power integration

r
CW CW

LO-CAT Guard Bed SMR H2O G-L

LPMEOH
Removal Separation

CO2, S S

MP
Steam
C
O
2
due to syngas extraction to
Raw
Methanol
combine cycle

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Process Design & Modeling
MeOH
Cryogenic
cracking
distillation
(MTO)

FCC CO2 removal/

Raw

Raw MeOH stream diluted with

(Methanol cracking Quench Tower Dryer
Methanol
& Regenerator)

steam (2:1 molar)

CO2 H2O
Tail gas H2O

FCC reactor (450/730C) at

Ethylene
atmospheric pressure
De-Methanizer C2 - Splitter

De-ethanizer
Ni-SAPO-34 catalyst (high
De-Propanaizer C3 - Splitter Propylene
ethylene yield)
Simplified product separation
(neither DME nor Acetylene)
Two final product streams:
ethylene and propylene

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Process Economics

Economic Assumptions
Parameter Value
Rate of return 10%
Common assumptions on
Equity 100% Biomass Thermochemical
Plant life 20 years Conversion Processes
Depreciation 10 years
(Linear)
Salvage value 0 MM$ Economic data for whole process
Construction 1 year (except MTO area) was taken from a
period
Income tax 30%
previous work
Working capital 1-month
operating Economic data for MTO area was
costs taken from Chen et al. (2004)
Land 6% of TIC
Year 2010

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Results & Discussion

Material & Energy Results (2140 d.t./day)

82,400 tonne/year (small-capacity plant)
9,279 kg/h of ethylene
High ethylene production mode
576 kg/h of propylene
Plant designed to fulfill the energy self-sufficient
and electrical energy neutral criterion
Mass efficiency is 115 kg olefins/dry tonne of
biomass

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Results & Discussion

Economic Results
Highly dependent on:

Biomass price (assumed 66 $/dry tonne)

Energy self-sufficient and electrical energy

neutral criterion

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 Results & Discussion
M (2010) Minimun value
Total Plant Investment 421
Operating costs 90
Minimun Ethylene Selling Price 1,687

Ethylene price was calculated by:

Fixing a propylene market price of 920/tonne
(October 2010)
Imposing a rate of return of 10%
Imposing energy self-sufficient criterion

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Results & Discussion

Comparison with present olefins market

1,300

1,200 This work was concluded in

1,100
the end of 2010
1,000
At present, olefins market
/tonne

900
Ethylene
800 Propylene prices have significantly
700
increased, but are still
600
below calculated ethylene
500

400
price
Mar-09 Oct-09 May-10 Nov-10 Jun-11

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 How much penalizes the energy self-
sufficient criterion our process?

With this criterion (there is neither heat nor

power input to the plant)
1,687 /tonne of ethylene

Without this criterion (electric power -from

the grid-)
1,205 /tonne of ethylene

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

 Conclusions

This techno-economic assessment shows olefins

can be produced from biomass at near
competitive selling price
Other production modes could also be easily
evaluated (with our assessment tool), such as 2:1
ethylene to propylene, high propylene mode, etc.
The energy self-sufficient and electrical energy
neutral criterion highly penalizes the economics

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Techno-Economic Assessment of Production
of Olefins Via Thermochemical Conversion
of Biomass (BioMTO Process)

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition