Methods and Systems for the Production of Hydrocarbon Products
Methods and systems for the production of hydrocarbon products, including providing a substrate comprising CO to a bioreactor containing a culture of one or more micro-organisms; and fermenting the culture in the bioreactor to produce one or more hydrocarbon products. The substrate comprising CO is derived from a CO 2 reforming process.
1 - 18 . (canceled)
19 . A method for producing a hydrocarbon product, the method comprising;
a) producing a gaseous substrate comprising CO and optionally H 2 in a CO 2 reforming process;
b) passing the gaseous substrate comprising CO and optionally H 2 to a bioreactor containing at least one microorganism;
c) fermenting the culture in the bioreactor to produce at least one hydrocarbon product, and a post fermentation exit gas stream comprising at least one gas selected from the group consisting of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 and H 2 .
20 . The method of claim 19 wherein the CO 2 reforming process comprises the regeneration of a catalyst to produce the substrate of (a).
21 . The method of claim 20 wherein the post fermentation exit gas stream is received by a membrane module configured to separate one or more gases from one or more other gases.
22 . The method of claim 21 wherein H 2 and CO 2 are separated as a gas stream from the post fermentation exit gas stream by the membrane module.
23 . The method of claim 19 wherein the post fermentation exit gas stream from the bioreactor is passed to a gas separation unit operated at conditions to separate and recover hydrogen from the post fermentation exit gas stream.
24 . The method of claim 22 wherein the H 2 and CO 2 gas stream is passed to a gas separation unit operated at conditions to separate and recover hydrogen from the H2 and CO2 gas stream.
25 . The method of claim 23 where the gas separation unit is a pressure swing adsorption module.
26 . The method of claim 24 where the gas separation unit is a pressure swing adsorption module.
27 . The method of claim 19 wherein the at least one hydrocarbon product is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, propanol, butanol, 2,3-butanediol, acetate, butyrate, propionate, caproate, propylene, butadiene, isobutylene, ethylene, gasoline, jet fuel or diesel fuel.
28 . The method of claim 27 where the at least one hydrocarbon product is ethanol, 2,3-butanediol or mixtures thereof.
29 . A system for the production of a hydrocarbon product, the system comprising;
a) a bioreactor containing a culture of at least one microorganism adapted to produce the hydrocarbon product by fermentation of a CO or a CO and H 2 containing substrate, wherein the bioreactor is adapted to receive the CO or CO and H 2 containing substrate from a CO 2 reforming module;
b) a CO 2 reforming module comprising a CO 2 reformer configured to produce a gaseous substrate comprising CO or CO and H 2 ;
c) a gas separation unit;
d) means for supplying a substrate comprising CO or CO and H 2 from the CO 2 reforming module of (b) to the bioreactor (a); and
e) means for supplying a post fermentation exit gas stream from the bioreactor to the gas separation unit, the exit gas stream comprising at least one gas selected from the group consisting of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 and H 2 .
30 . The system of claim 29 wherein the CO 2 reforming module further comprises a regenerator adapted to regenerate a catalyst by combustion of carboniferous deposits on the catalyst.
31 . The system of claim 29 wherein the CO 2 reforming module further comprises a gasification module adapted to gasify a refinery feedstock to produce a syngas stream.
32 . The system of claim 31 wherein the CO 2 reforming module further comprises a substitute natural gas (SNG) module adapted to receive at least a portion of the syngas and convert the at least a portion of the syngas to SNG.
33 . The system of claim 32 wherein the CO 2 reformer is configured to receive at least a portion of the substitute natural gas.
34 . The system of claim 29 wherein the bioreactor is adapted to receive the substrate produced by the CO 2 reformer or the syngas produced by the gasification module.
35 . The system of claim 29 wherein the gas separation unit is a membrane module or a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) module configured to separate CO or CO and H 2 from one or more other gases in a gas stream exiting the bioreactor.
36 . The system of claim 29 wherein the CO 2 reforming module is adapted to receive a gaseous substrate from the bioreactor or the gas separation unit.