WO2021001309A1 - Procédés et systèmes de transport de matériaux de biomasse cellulosique - Google Patents

Procédés et systèmes de transport de matériaux de biomasse cellulosique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021001309A1
WO2021001309A1 PCT/EP2020/068235 EP2020068235W WO2021001309A1 WO 2021001309 A1 WO2021001309 A1 WO 2021001309A1 EP 2020068235 W EP2020068235 W EP 2020068235W WO 2021001309 A1 WO2021001309 A1 WO 2021001309A1
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biomass
dilute
section
concentrated
biomass slurry
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PCT/EP2020/068235
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English (en)
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Peter John Edward HARLICK
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Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V.
Shell Oil Company
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Publication of WO2021001309A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021001309A1/fr

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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M45/00—Means for pre-treatment of biological substances
    • C12M45/03—Means for pre-treatment of biological substances by control of the humidity or content of liquids; Drying
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M21/00—Bioreactors or fermenters specially adapted for specific uses
    • C12M21/12—Bioreactors or fermenters specially adapted for specific uses for producing fuels or solvents
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M33/00—Means for introduction, transport, positioning, extraction, harvesting, peeling or sampling of biological material in or from the apparatus
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M45/00—Means for pre-treatment of biological substances
    • C12M45/04—Phase separators; Separation of non fermentable material; Fractionation

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to processes and systems for transporting biomass materials, particularly involving the use of one or more pumps to transport mixtures containing biomass materials.
  • biomass such as wood and other plant or organic biomass can be processed by two methods: biochemical methods such as fermentation; and thermochemical methods such as gasification or pyrolysis.
  • biochemical methods such as fermentation
  • thermochemical methods such as gasification or pyrolysis.
  • one challenge in scaling up operations involve infrastructure and equipment to convey and transport the biomass because the nature of most biomass typically incurs significant handling costs, particularly when compared to existing road, rail, pipeline and river infrastructure for transporting conventional energy products that is already in place.
  • transportation constraints act as a limiting factor on the size of a biomass-processing plant, most biomass projects are built well below optimum size.
  • a further major limitation is the handling of the cellulosic biomass materials as feedstocks and their movement within the overall conversion process.
  • Cellulosic biomass materials tend to be relatively higher in solids content, and/or potentially high in viscosity than other feedstocks.
  • Cellulosic biomass materials are typically conveyed through the input and/or pretreatment stages of the bio-refinery by screw conveyor, belt conveyor, drag conveyor, or some equivalent system designed to handle high solids materials.
  • Conveyor systems and/or their equivalents are typically expensive to install, require physical layouts which tend to be less flexible in design or operation, consume significant amounts of energy, and/or are plagued with high maintenance costs, due at least in part to the number of components involved and the damage caused by the particular properties of the cellulosic biomass materials moving through those components.
  • the source of the cellulosic biomass material may be some distance from the facilities in which the cellulosic biomass material goes through at least substantially most of the overall conversion process.
  • the present disclosure provides for a method of transporting a biomass slurry comprising: (a) providing a conduit network comprising a dilute section, a liquid removal section fluidly connected in series with the dilute section, and a concentrated section fluidly connected in series with the liquid removal section; (b) providing a dilute biomass slurry having a moisture content in a range of at least 95% and an undissolved solids (UDS) amount in a range of 0.1 and up to 5% to the dilute section of the conduit network, wherein the dilute section has a major cross sectional dimension of at least four inches, wherein the dilute biomass slurry comprises biomass particles and a liquid; (c) conveying at least a portion of the dilute biomass slurry along the dilute section of the conduit network for a distance of at least five times the major cross-sectional dimension of the dilute section; (d) conveying the dilute biomass slurry through the liquid removal section to remove liquid from the dilute biomass slurry while the dilute biomass slurry is convey
  • the dilute biomass slurry further comprises non-biomass particles, said method further comprising: (g) conveying at least a portion of the biomass particles at a velocity in a range of 0.1 m/s to 0.6 m/s to maintain in suspension greater than 50% of the biomass particles in the dilute biomass slurry; and wherein at least a portion of the non biomass particles settles at the bottom of the dilute section.
  • the non-biomass material comprises at least one of: dirt, rocks, soil, trash, field debris, sand, biomass fines or particles or other loose organic or inorganic materials with higher densities then the primary biomass particles.
  • the dilute biomass slurry comprises 1 - 50 wt% or 1 - 20 wt%, optionally 5 - 20 wt%, including 5 to 15% non-biomass particles.
  • the non biomass particles have a mean density at least 20% optionally at least 30%, and up to 400%, greater than the mean density of the dilute biomass slurry.
  • at least 25% of the non-biomass particles in the dilute biomass slurry settles at the bottom of the dilute section.
  • the method further comprises removing at least a portion of the non biomass particles deposited at the bottom of the dilute section.
  • the removing of at least a portion of the non-biomass particles comprises providing a means of maintaining the biomass particles in suspended flow, while providing for a separate accumulation zone for the non-biomass particles, such as U-tube, hydro-cyclone, additional dilute aqueous phase or air fluidization based separation, mechanical wet and/or dry based separations based on density and particle sizing.
  • the biomass particles comprise a grown crop fiber consisting primarily of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and includes, without limitation, grass, switchgrass, straw, corn stover, energy crop, cane or agriculture residuals, general cereal wastes, wood chips.
  • the method comprises adding liquid to a biomass feedstock to generate the dilute biomass slurry.
  • at least a portion of the liquid added to the biomass feedstock comprises liquid removed from the dilute biomass slurry.
  • the biomass feedstock to which liquid is added comprises an ensiled biomass material produced by storing a biomass material for at least 24 hours.
  • the storage produces a leachate and wherein at least a portion of the liquid added to the biomass feedstock comprises said leachate.
  • the removing of liquid from the dilute biomass slurry comprises applying pressure to the dilute biomass material in the dilute section to displace at least a portion of liquid from the dilute biomass material; and removing at least a portion of the displaced liquid.
  • the removing of liquid from the dilute biomass slurry comprises moving the dilute biomass material through a solids concentrator comprising: a first end connected to the dilute section, wherein the first end has a major cross sectional dimension similar to that of the dilute section; a second end connected to the concentrated section having a major cross sectional dimension that is smaller than that of the dilute section; a body disposed between the first and second ends, wherein the diameter of the body gradually changes from the first end to the second end; and one or more perforations disposed along the body to allow a portion of liquid displaced from the dilute biomass slurry to move therethrough.
  • FIG. 1 schematically illustrates one exemplar embodiment to transport a biomass slurry according to aspects described herein.
  • FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a second exemplar embodiment to transport a biomass slurry according to aspects described herein.
  • FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a third exemplar embodiment to transport a biomass slurry according to aspects described herein.
  • FIGS. 4A - 4C are various views of an exemplar solid concentrator that may optionally be used in embodiments according to aspects described herein.
  • FIG. 5 schematically illustrates one exemplar arrangement to provide biomass slurry that may optionally be used in embodiments according to aspects described herein.
  • FIG. 6 schematically illustrates another exemplar arrangement to provide biomass slurry that may optionally be used in embodiments according to aspects described herein.
  • FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a depiction of a plug flow profile that may be employed in embodiments according to aspects described here.
  • biomass or biomass material refers to grown crop fiber consisting primarily of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and includes, without limitation, grass, switchgrass, straw, corn stover, energy crop, cane or agriculture residuals, general cereal wastes, wood chips and the like, that can be converted to ethanol (or other products) according to various known other known technology.
  • the biomass or biomass material may be in any suitable forms, including chopped, harvested, residues remaining after the crop has been harvested (including stalks and stubble (stems), leaves, and seed pod), or mechanically manipulated, such as cubed or pressed, or otherwise densified via mechanical means.
  • biomass includes materials that are not free flowing in their native state, such as ligno-cellulosic materials.
  • the invention is intended to be used preferably in connection with the collection and transport of non-free flowing materials (ligno-cellulosic biomass), such as fluidized material or other solids with better flowing properties such as corn kernels or sand, as these non-tree flowing biomass materials are conventionally the most intractable from a materials handling standpoint.
  • Such biomass materials are harvested from various fields on which they are grown typically by using commercially available equipment such as various types of harvesters.
  • commercial crop farming large harvesting equipment is often used, which leads to various non-biomass material or non-biomass particles such as field debris, including rocks, pebbles, soil, trash, sand, etc., ending up in the collected biomass crop.
  • the non-biomass material poses a challenge in both the transportation of the biomass material to subsequent processing, such as pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, hydrothermal reactions, and/or catalytic reactions, as well as in the subsequent processes themselves, such as inhibiting the reaction, reducing the reaction yields, and/or contribute to generation of unwanted by-product.
  • biomass slurry Even if the non-biomass material is not present in the harvested biomass solid material, transportation of such biomass material can be challenging due to its properties. As mentioned above, water or some kind of liquid is often added to the biomass solids to generate a biomass slurry (or a biomass slurry having a high moisture content and undissolved solids) for various reasons, and the biomass slurry needs to be moved or transported between various processing steps in a system, which can be difficult to manage.
  • the present disclosure provides for processes and systems to transport biomass slurry or mixture materials where liquid is removed from the biomass slurry while the biomass slurry is being conveyed in the conduit network or system (e.g.,“in-situ water removal”), which saves on operational time and extra equipment because liquid removal is often a desired step prior to biomass processing.
  • the in-situ water removal from a dilute biomass slurry to generate a concentrated biomass slurry maintains the biomass material in fluid flow in a conduit system, which allows for it to continue to be conveniently transported into the processing system or next processing step as a fluid rather than having the flow interrupted.
  • one method of transporting a biomass slurry as described herein comprises (i) providing a conduit network comprising a dilute section, a liquid removal section fluidly connected in series with the dilute section, and a concentrated section fluidly connected with the liquid removal section and located downstream of the liquid removal section; (ii) providing a dilute biomass slurry having a moisture content in a range of at least 95% and an undissolved solids (UDS) amount in a range of 0.1 and up to 5% to the dilute section of the conduit network, wherein the dilute section has a major cross sectional dimension of at least four inches, wherein the dilute biomass slurry comprises biomass particles and a liquid; (iii) conveying at least a portion of the dilute biomass slurry along the dilute section of the conduit network for a distance of at least five times the major cross- sectional dimension of the dilute section; (iv) conveying the dilute biomass slurry through the liquid removal section to remove liquid from the dilute biomass slurry while
  • the appropriate dimensional difference between the concentrated section and the dilute section based on a number of factors, such as the water holding capacity and compressibility of the biomass materials. For instance, if the biomass has a lower water holding property as compared to another crop, a smaller dimensional difference may be adequate to achieve plug flow as compared to a biomass that has a higher water holding property. Similarly, a biomass with higher compressibility may need a smaller dimensional difference to achieve plug flow.
  • the plug flow in the concentrated section achieved as a result of pushing or squeezing the water out of the biomass creates a lubricating layer surrounding the plug flow (adjacent to the wall of the respective section, i.e., the lubricating layer is between the wall of the section and the biomass portion in plug flow) that contains more water. Having this lubricating layer allows for improved flowability of concentrated biomass slurry having an UDS amount of greater than 5%.
  • FIG. 1 schematically illustrates one exemplar embodiment of the method and system to transport a biomass slurry according to aspects described herein.
  • system 100 comprises conduit network 102 comprising dilute section 104, a first liquid removal section 106, a first concentrated section 108, a second liquid removal section 110, and a second concentrated section 112.
  • Dilute section 104 has a major cross-sectional dimension (such as a diameter) of at least 4 inches.
  • Dilute biomass slurry has (a) a moisture content in a range of at least 95% and (b) an undissolved solids (UDS) amount in a range of 0.1 and up to 5%, and the dilute biomass slurry comprises biomass particles and a liquid.
  • UDS undissolved solids
  • biomass slurries including dilute and concentrated
  • the biomass slurries may be provided to and conveyed through conduit network 102 using conventional or known in the art pumping equipment such as a progressive cavity pump.
  • suitable pumping equipment can include, for instance, positive displacement pumps, such as piston pumps, progressive cavity, rotary lobe, and/or gear pumps.
  • Conduit” or“section” as used herein includes, without limitation, pipes, or like structures used to transport a fluid, including a slurry material via a pumping equipment.
  • dilute section 104 has a length that is at least five times (5x) its major cross-section dimension.
  • dilute section 104 may be at least five times (5x) its diameter.
  • Liquid is removed from the dilute biomass slurry while the dilute biomass slurry is conveyed or transported in or along conduit network 102 through first liquid removal section 104 to produce a concentrated biomass slurry (not shown), which is provided to concentrated section 106.
  • the concentrated biomass slurry has an UDS amount of greater than 5%, where the concentrated biomass slurry comprises at least a portion of biomass particles and liquid in the dilute biomass slurry from dilute section 104.
  • liquid removal section 106 is fluidly connected in series with dilute section 104 with a first end of liquid removal section 106 connected to dilute conduit 104 to receive dilute biomass slurry and a second end connected to concentrated section 108 to provide the concentrated biomass slurry thereto.
  • concentrated section 108 has a cross-sectional dimension that is smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of the dilute section 104.
  • the cross-sectional dimension of concentrated section 108 is from 10% - 90%, optionally 25% to 50%, smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of the dilute section 104.
  • the dilute end of liquid removal section 106 that is fluidly connected in series to dilute section 104 has a similar (or substantially the same) cross-sectional dimension as that of dilute section 104
  • the concentrated end that is fluid connected in series to concentrated section 108 has a similar (or substantially the same) cross-sectional dimension as that of concentrated section 108.
  • the body of liquid removal section 106 comprises a plurality of openings to allow liquid to leave the biomass slurry traveling through liquid removal section 106 and eventually leave liquid removal section 106 while the majority of the biomass particles are retained in the biomass slurry as it travels to the concentrated end and is provided to section 108 as a concentrated biomass slurry having less liquid than the dilute biomass slurry in section 104, such as a concentrated biomass slurry has an UDS amount of greater than 5%, including greater than 6%, greater than 7%, greater than 8%, greater than 9%, greater than 10%, or greater than 15%.
  • the change in cross-sectional dimension of the dilute end of the liquid removal section 106 and its concentrated end helps to squeeze out more water from the biomass slurry travelling therethrough than if the cross-sectional dimension remains the same from one end to another. It is understood that one of ordinary skill in the art may design or determine a length and difference in cross-sectional dimension of the ends of liquid removal section 106 to achieve the desired level of liquid removal from the biomass slurry to achieve the desired moisture and solid contents in the concentrated biomass slurry.
  • the desired level of liquid removal may also be achieved using more than one liquid removal sections.
  • optional additional liquid removal section 110 may be provided to further extract liquid from the concentrated biomass slurry coming from concentrated section 108 to provide a further concentrated biomass slurry in concentrated section 112, which has a lower moisture content than the concentrated biomass slurry in section 108. It is understood that more than one or two (e.g., three, four, five, etc.) liquid removal sections may be utilized to achieve the desired liquid removal amount.
  • the concentrated biomass slurry is conveyed along concentrated section 108 or 112 (or additional concentrated sections as applicable) for a distance of at least five times the major cross-sectional dimension of the applicable concentrated section and where at least a portion of the biomass particles (and not necessarily the liquid) in the concentrated biomass slurry has a flow profile that can be characterized as plug flow (or“in plug flow”).
  • the plug flow profile can be characterized as the ratio of v x :v 0 is in a range of 0.90 to 0.99, where v x is the velocity of the biomass particles at a distance from the center of concentrated conduit 108 and v 0 is the velocity of the biomass particles at the center of concentrated section 108 or 112 (or additional concentrated sections as applicable), respectively.
  • FIGS. 2 and 3 depict systems 200 and 300 respectively showing additional exemplary embodiments of the systems and methods to transport a biomass slurry as described herein.
  • identical reference numbers will be used in each figure.
  • the detailed description of the element that is provided herein, usually but not necessarily at the first occurrence, is applicable to that element in all instances, whether or not such applicability is explicitly noted.
  • Some features of the systems and methods described herein may be omitted in certain depicted configurations in the interest of clarity.
  • conduit network 202 of system 200 has similar features as those of system 100, except system 200 has liquid removal section 206, which comprises two portions, first portion 216 and second portion 218, and transition section 214. As can be seen in FIG.
  • first portion 216 of liquid removal section 206 can be similar to liquid removal section 106, so applicable descriptions of section 106 also apply here, such as portion 216 having a dilute inlet to receive the dilute slurry biomass from dilute section 104 and a concentrated end with a major cross-sectional dimension that is smaller than that of the dilute end.
  • portion 216 instead of the concentrated end of portion 216 fluidly connected in series to a concentrated section such as sections 106 and 108, it is fluidly connected in series to portion 218 via an inlet end that has a major cross-sectional diameter that is similar (or substantially the same) as that of the outlet end of portion 218 and the concentrated end of portion 216.
  • the outlet end of portion 218 is fluidly connected in series with the inlet end of transition section 214, which has a major cross-sectional diameter that is similar (or substantially the same) as that of the outlet end of portion 218.
  • the major cross-sectional dimension of the body of portion 218 disposed between its inlet and outlet ends remains relatively constant. Similar to section 106 and portion 216, the body of portion 218 comprises openings to allow for liquid in the biomass slurry to exit as the biomass slurry travels through section 206 toward transition section 214.
  • transition section 214 is fluidly connected in series with concentrated section 208, which is downstream of and in fluid communication with liquid removal section 206.
  • Concentrated section 208 is similar to that of section 108 so the descriptions for section 108 are applicable to section 208 and need not be repeated.
  • the outlet end of transition section 214 has a major cross-sectional dimension that is larger than that of its inlet end, which allows for a plug flow profile as described above in a section with a major cross-sectional dimension that is larger than the concentrated end of portion 216 or concentrated end of section 106.
  • transition section 214 allows for use of a liquid removal section with inlet and outlet ends with different major cross-sectional dimensions (such as section 106) for more efficient liquid extraction without the need to use subsequently smaller and smaller conduits.
  • FIG. 2 shows concentrated section 208 with a similar (or substantially the same) major cross-sectional dimension as that of dilute section 104, it is understood that one of ordinary skill can select any suitable or desirable major cross-section dimension for the concentrated section.
  • more than one or two (e.g., three, four, five, etc.) liquid removal sections 206 may be utilized to achieve the desired liquid removal amount and/or a final concentrated section with the desired or suitable major cross-sectional dimension prior to the final concentrated biomass slurry entering a processing system.
  • System 300 in FIG. 3 is yet another exemplary embodiment of the biomass transport systems and methods described herein.
  • Conduit network 302 of system 300 has similar features as those of system 100 in that it comprises liquid removal section 106 and concentrated section 108 and those of system 200 in that it comprises transition section 114 and concentrated section 208.
  • a conduit network of various arrangements and numbers of sections and portions e.g., 106, 108, 206, 208, and 214) may be designed to achieve the desired liquid removal and volumetric flow associated with a conduit section of a certain major cross-sectional dimension while achieving in-situ liquid removal and a plug flow profile for biomass particles in the concentrated biomass slurry being conveyed through a concentrated conduit section.
  • System 100 can optionally further include funnel 120 coupled to and situated below various liquid removal sections to facilitate such liquid collection. It is understood that funnel 120 may be any form of a cone with a polygon base and a vertex at a point that is noncoplanar to the base.
  • cone shapes include a pyramid or any other cones with a regular polygon as a base, and a circular cone is one with a circle as a base.
  • the size and shape of the base of funnel 120 are configured to allow for coupling with a particular liquid removal section to receive liquid removed from the biomass slurry conveyed through that liquid removal section.
  • the liquid removal section may have any number of suitable openings that allow liquid to leave the biomass slurry while a majority (at least 50%) of the biomass particles are retained.
  • the liquid removal section can comprise a solid concentrator as depicted in FIGS. 4 A - 4C, which show various views of an exemplary solids concentrator with reference numeral 406.
  • solids concentrator 406 comprises a first end 403 that optionally has a major cross sectional dimension similar to that of a dilute section (such as section 104) to allow it to be connected to such dilute section; a second end 405 that has a major cross sectional dimension that is smaller than that of the dilute section and optionally similar to that of a concentrated section (such as section 108) to allow it to be connected to such concentrated section.
  • solids concentrator 106 further comprises a body 407 disposed between the first end 403 and the second end 405. The major cross sectional dimension of the body 407 gradually decreases from the first end 403 to the second end.
  • Body 407 comprises one or more perforations 409 disposed along it, which allows for at least a portion of liquid from the biomass slurry moving therethrough to separate from the biomass slurry and flow through one or more perforations 409 (at least due to gravity and/or the transition from a larger available volume near the first end 403 toward a smaller available volume near second end 405) and hence be removed from such biomass slurry.
  • Such liquid separated from the biomass slurry may be routed and/or collected via means known to one of ordinary skill in the art such as additional conduits, sections, and/or components such funnel 120.
  • the spacing between the perforations utilized in one or more liquid removal sections are preferably smaller than the mean size of the biomass particles in the biomass slurry conveyed therethrough to retain the biomass particles in biomass slurry rather than exiting with the liquid through perforations 409.
  • all the liquid removal sections can employ similarly sized perforations or various sizes as needed or desired.
  • one option to arrange perforations 408 is to space them longitudinally around the perimeter (e.g., circumference) of body 407.
  • solids concentrator 406 may be in a housing 411 that is configured to facilitate further coupling with other components, such as funnel 120 and/or other sections, such as sections 104 and 108. Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, solids concentrator 106 may optionally further comprise component 413, which may be provided as support to facilitate mechanical connection between various components for structural integrity.
  • system 500 showing additional exemplary embodiments of the systems and methods to transport a biomass slurry as described herein.
  • system 500 comprises conduit network 102 as described above.
  • the biomass material to which liquid is added to produce a dilute biomass slurry oftentimes further contains non-biomass material such as field debris that pose as a challenge to the transport of the dilute biomass slurry into subsequent processing steps, such as pretreatment and subsequent hydrolysis and/or fermentation or other processing, including conversion to biogas or drop-in fuels (e.g. gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc.).
  • the systems and methods described herein can also optionally allow for in-situ removal of at least a portion of non biomass material.
  • At least a portion, preferably a majority (at least 50%), of the biomass particles in the concentrated biomass slurry is conveyed at a certain velocity through the dilute section and then in plug flow through a concentrated section, meaning such portion of biomass particles has substantially similar (within 90 - 99% range) velocity as it moves through the concentrated section.
  • Particles that have significantly different properties, such as denser and/or larger size tend to be non-biomass particles, which have a slower velocity and hence get separated from the flow of the majority of the dilute biomass slurry and/or such plug flow of the concentrated biomass slurry and drop to the bottom of a concentrated section due to gravity, allowing them to be collected over time as they accumulate.
  • the spacing is preferably selected to retain the majority of the biomass material in the biomass slurry while allowing for the majority of the non-biomass material and the selected amount of water to be removed from the biomass slurry as it flows through the respective conduit (i.e., in situ removal).
  • the methods described herein where the dilute biomass slurry comprises non-biomass particles can further comprise conveying at least a portion of the biomass particles at a velocity in a range of 0.1 m/s to 0.6 m/s to maintain in suspension greater than 50%, including greater than 55%, greater than 60%, greater than 65%, greater than 70%, greater than 75%, or greater than 80% of the biomass particles in the dilute biomass slurry; and wherein at least a portion of the non-biomass particles is not conveyed to the next section with said portion of biomass particles and remains in the dilute section.
  • the separation of the portion of non-biomass particles from the biomass slurry which is conveyed to the next section can result in an accumulation of non-biomass particles that remain in the dilute section, particularly at the bottom of the dilute section, as additional dilute biomass slurry comprising non-biomass particles is continuously conveyed through the dilute section and additional non-biomass particles are separated out.
  • subsequent sections such as the liquid removal section and subsequent concentrated sections, the biomass slurry traveling through those sections would have less non-biomass particles, which results in less non-biomass particles that would inhibit, contaminate, and/or pose material handling challenges in subsequent processes (e.g., pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, and/or certain conversion reactions).
  • the non-biomass material or particles can comprise at least one of: dirt, rocks, soil, trash, field debris, sand, biomass fines or particles or other loose organic or inorganic materials with higher densities then the primary biomass particles.
  • the dilute biomass slurry can comprise 1 - 50 wt% or 1 - 20 wt% non-biomass particles, optionally 5 - 20 wt%, including 5 to 15%.
  • the non-biomass particles can have a mean density at least 20%, optionally at least 30%, and up to 400% (such as small rocks or sand), greater than the mean density of the dilute biomass slurry.
  • the methods can optionally comprise continuously convey the dilute biomass slurry through the dilute section and subsequently to the next section: the liquid removal section to continuously remove liquid in-situ and allow non-biomass particles to be separated from the flow of the rest of the dilute biomass slurry and accumulate in the dilute section.
  • the accumulated non-biomass particles may be removed from the system using methods known to one of ordinary skill such as U-tube, hydro-cyclone, additional dilute aqueous phase or air fluidization based separation, mechanical wet and/or dry based separations based on density and particle sizing.
  • portion 501 non-biomass particles may be removed from dilute section 104 and other certain portions 503 and 505 of non-biomass particles are removed in subsequent concentrated section(s) 108 and 112, as optionally employed.
  • portion 501 of non-biomass particles may have a mean distribution of size and/or density that is greater than those of the non-biomass particles in portion 503, and optionaly portion 505.
  • Similar non-biomass particle removal equipment and/or methods may be employed in conjunction with concentrated sections 108 and 112.
  • the separation and accumulation of non-biomass particles described for dilute biomass slurry in the dilute section above are equally applicable to the concentrated biomass slurry in subsequent concentrated section(s) as well and need not be repeated. That is, the phrase“concentrated biomass slurry” or“concentrated section” may be substituted for the phrase“dilute biomass slurry” or“dilute section” in paragraphs [0035] - [0037], respectively and as applicable, the context of which would be understood by one of ordinary skills in the art.
  • the biomass material in the biomass slurry may be a crop that is harvested.
  • the biomass particles can comprise grown crop fiber consisting primarily of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and includes, without limitation, grass, switchgrass, straw, corn stover, energy crop, cane or agriculture residuals, general cereal wastes, wood chips and the like, that can be converted to ethanol (or other products) according to various known other known technology.
  • the biomass or biomass material may be in any suitable forms, including chopped, harvested, residues remaining after the crop has been harvested (including stalks and stubble (stems), leaves, and seed pod), or mechanically manipulated, such as cubed or pressed.
  • At least a portion of the liquid added to the biomass feedstock to prepare the dilute biomass slurry comprises liquid collected from the liquid removal section of conduit network 102.
  • at least a portion of liquid in line 118 may be routed to one central line 122 for collection and further optional processing, such as waste water treatment and/or routed to liquid collection point 524 in FIG. 5 which may be added to the biomass feedstock provided from one or more biomass collection sites 526 to prepare a dilute biomass slurry having a moisture content of at least 95% and an undissolved solids (UDS) amount in a range of 0.1 and up to 5%.
  • the biomass feedstock from one or more biomass collection sites 526 likely already has a certain moisture content but it is lower than 95% and requires additional liquid to achieve the at least 95% moisture content.
  • the biomass feedstock to which liquid is added to prepare a dilute biomass slurry (such as the biomass feedstock in one or more biomass collection sites 526) comprises an ensiled biomass material produced by storing a biomass material for at least 24 hours. Such storage optionally produces a leachate and wherein at least a portion of the liquid added to the biomass feedstock comprises said leachate.
  • the biomass collection sites may have various configurations (such as those depicted for sites 626) that optimizes the space available.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé de transport d'une boue de biomasse. Le procédé comprend le transport d'au moins une partie d'une boue de biomasse diluée le long d'une section diluée d'un réseau de conduits sur une distance d'au moins cinq fois la dimension de section transversale principale de la section diluée; le transport de la boue de biomasse diluée à travers la section d'élimination de liquide pour éliminer le liquide de la boue de biomasse diluée tandis que la boue de biomasse diluée est transportée le long du réseau de conduits, ce qui permet de générer une boue de biomasse concentrée comportant un taux de matière solide non dissoute (UDS) supérieur à 5 %; et le transport d'au moins une partie des particules de biomasse dans la boue de biomasse concentrée par un écoulement piston à travers une section concentrée du réseau de conduits sur une distance d'au moins cinq fois la dimension de section transversale principale de la section concentrée, la section concentrée ayant une dimension en coupe transversale étant inférieure à la dimension en coupe transversale de la section diluée.
PCT/EP2020/068235 2019-07-03 2020-06-29 Procédés et systèmes de transport de matériaux de biomasse cellulosique WO2021001309A1 (fr)

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Citations (3)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20080038815A1 (en) 2006-08-10 2008-02-14 Foody Sr Patrick Method and system for the large scale collection, preparation, handling and refining of ligno-cellulosic biomass
US20100056774A1 (en) * 2008-08-29 2010-03-04 Iogen Energy Corporation Method for low water hydrolysis or pretreatment of polysaccharides in a lignocellulosic feedstock
US20100167366A1 (en) 2008-12-19 2010-07-01 Stewart David A Pumping and contamination control system for cellulosic feedstocks

Patent Citations (3)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20080038815A1 (en) 2006-08-10 2008-02-14 Foody Sr Patrick Method and system for the large scale collection, preparation, handling and refining of ligno-cellulosic biomass
US20100056774A1 (en) * 2008-08-29 2010-03-04 Iogen Energy Corporation Method for low water hydrolysis or pretreatment of polysaccharides in a lignocellulosic feedstock
US20100167366A1 (en) 2008-12-19 2010-07-01 Stewart David A Pumping and contamination control system for cellulosic feedstocks

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BEN BBOSA ET AL: "A comprehensive deposition velocity model for slurry transport in horizontal pipelines", JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, vol. 7, no. 1, 8 June 2016 (2016-06-08), pages 303 - 310, XP055734438, ISSN: 2190-0558, DOI: 10.1007/s13202-016-0259-1 *
GRACA MARIA ET AL: "Flow Dynamics of Pulp Fiber Suspensions Turbulent flow of complex fluids View project", 1 July 2008 (2008-07-01), XP055734448, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Rasteiro/publication/264422058_Flow_Dynamics_of_Pulp_Fiber_Suspensions/links/55a4d03d08ae5e82ab1f5d23/Flow-Dynamics-of-Pulp-Fiber-Suspensions.pdf> [retrieved on 20200928] *
VAEZI MAHDI ET AL: "Investigation into the mechanisms of pipeline transport of slurries of wheat straw and corn stover to supply a bio-refinery", BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING, ELSEVIER, AMSTERDAM, NL, vol. 118, 7 December 2013 (2013-12-07), pages 52 - 67, XP028816022, ISSN: 1537-5110, DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOSYSTEMSENG.2013.11.006 *

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