Biomass to liquid

Biomass to liquid (BtL or BMtL) is a multi-step process of producing synthetic hydrocarbon fuels made from biomass via a thermochemical route. Such a fuel has been called grassoline.

According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy, the United States can produce at least 1.3 billion tons of cellulosic biomass each year without decreasing the amount of biomass needed for our food, animal feed, or exports.

The Fischer–Tropsch process is used to produce synfuels from gasified biomass. Carbonaceous material is gasified and the gas is processed to make purified syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). The Fischer-Tropsch polymerizes syngas into diesel-range hydrocarbons. While biodiesel and bio-ethanol production so far only use parts of a plant, i.e. oil, sugar, starch or cellulose, BtL production can gasify and utilize the entire plant.

Flash pyrolysis — producing bio-oil (pyrolysis oil), char and gas at temperatures between 350-550 °C and residence times < 1 second (also called anhydrous pyrolysis).

Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis is a fast process in which the cellulose is broken down to a liquid biofuel. In this approach the cellulose is heated to 500 degrees celsius in less than one second in a chamber to break apart the oxygen molecules. The catalyst forms chemical reactions that remove oxygen bonds and form carbon rings. After the reaction takes place gasoline is formed along with water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

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