Rentech and ClearFuels have been awarded a grant by the DOE to construct a biomass gasification demonstration unit. ClearFuels and Rentech are working together as partners to develop biomass plants that can produce diesel.

Rentech has a process demonstration unit (PDU) in Commerce City, Colorado that was constructed for the purpose of demonstrating its Rentech Fischer-Tropsch process. Rentech Inc. and ClearFuels Technology Inc. have formed a partnership to develop projects that include the ClearFuels gasification process and the Rentech Fischer-Tropsch process.

The DOE has awarded a conditional grant in the amount of $23 million for ClearFuels-Rentech to construct the ClearFuels gasifier at the Rentech PDU site and integrate it with the gasifier with the Rentech Fischer-Tropsch demonstration unit. The ClearFuels-Rentech project is one of nineteen integrated bio-refinery projects selected to receive funds from the DOE under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale bio-refineries.

These projects were selected by the DOE to validate refining process technologies and help lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of an advanced bio-fuels industry in the United States.

Biomass can be many different types of natural products: corn stower, switchgrass, poplar, sugar cane stalks, even algae. The NETL is not considering any food crops, especially corn, because corn is an important source of food for not only this country, but also poor and developing countries. The combined coal and biomass feedstocks are being tested for gasification using slurry type gasification processes. The major gasification technology providers are GE, ConocoPhillips (E-Gas), Shell and Siemans, but there are other gasification technologies. The NETL is testing to determine which biomass products and what mixtures provide the optimum feedstocks for gasification.

The coal and biomass is converted to syngas using a gasification process. The syngas can be used to power gas turbines and generate electricity or with further processing it can be converted to liquid fuels such as jet fuel, diesel or gasoline. The syngas can even be converted to commercial grade H2, ammonia and other chemical products.

The use of natural occuring products that are abundant in the U.S. will help reduce the countries dependency on crude oil. This is important economically and strategically.

The environmental implications are outstanding. Environmentalists consider biomass a CO2 (carbon) neutral feedstock. This is because natural growing plants will decompose naturally and release their carbon into the atmosphere.

“With the blending of coal and biomass in the co-gasification process, you decrease the environmental impact because the biomass is carbon neutral. If you apply carbon sequestration technology, you actually have a process that is carbon negative – it consumes the carbon” said Brian Morreale researcher at NETL’s Office of Research and Development.

It would be necessary for the first coal-biomass gasification plants to use corn stover as the biomass feed, because there is not an adequate supply of switchgrass or poplar trees. It’s estimated that the agricultural production of switchgrass or poplar trees could be sufficient to justify larger plants within two years.

The study is based on a Fischer-Tropsch facility producing jet fuel ‘A’ from the syngas. The jet fuel ‘A’ produced from coal gasification and FT has been tested by the Air Force since 2006. The Air Force has stated that it’s objective is to provide 50% of the jet fuel it needs by 2010.