PYROLYSIS OF SOLID BIOMASS IN THE PRODUCTION OF BIOFUELS
The invention relates to the production of a biofuel from a feedstock that includes a solid biomass material such as lemna. A hydrocarbon feedstock is fed into the coking process and reaction products generated from the thermal process are collected. The invention further relates to the production of a coke product having an isotropic structure.
1 . A process for production of biofuels by co-processing of biomass in a refinery thermal processing unit, comprising the steps of:
feeding a feed material to a thermal processing unit wherein the feed material comprises a mixture of hydrocarbons and a solid biomass material;
thermally processing the feed material; and
collecting reaction products generated from the thermal processing of the feed material.
2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is derived from a plant source, an animal source or an aquatic source.
3 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the aquatic source is an aquatic plant.
4 . The process of claim 3 , wherein the aquatic plant is lemna or derived as a solid residual from lemna following protein extraction.
5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbons in the feed are petroleum residuals and distillates.
6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 10-20 wt %.
7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 40-50 wt %.
8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 0.1-60 wt %.
9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the thermal processing unit is a delayed coker.
10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction products include carbon dioxide, ammonia and acetic acid.
11 . The process of claim 4 , wherein the lemna is preprocessed to remove protein prior to being introduced in the feed.
12 . The process of claim 1 wherein the feed material is fed into a coker fractionator.
13 . The process of claim 1 wherein the feed material is fed directly to the coke drum.
14 . The process of claim 1 wherein the feed material is fed directly to a heater inlet.
15 . The process of claim wherein the feed material is heated prior to being added to the thermal processing unit.
16 . The process of claim 1 in which the thermal process is a delayed coking process.
17 . The process of claim 1 in which the thermal process is a fluidized bed coking process.
18 . The process of claim 14 in which the coking process is a delayed coking process in which the feed stream is heated to a temperature of 460 to 530° C. at a pressure of 300 to 4000 kPa after which the heated stream is discharged into a delayed coker drum at a pressure of 65 to 1100 kPa and a temperature of 400 to 475° C.
17 . The process of claim 15 in which the coking process is a fluidized bed coking process in which the feed stream is discharged into a fluidized bed coking reactor at a pressure from atmospheric to 400 kPa and a temperature of 480 to 565° C.
18 . A process for producing isotropic coke, comprising the steps of:
a) combining a feed material comprising a mixture of hydrocarbons and a solid biomass material, and
(b) subjecting the combined material to a thermal process to produce an isotropic coke.
19 . The process of claim 18 , wherein the isotropic coke exhibits low porosity.
20 . The process of claim 18 , wherein the solid biomass material is present in the feed material at 0.1% to 60% by weight.