Processes for producing high biogenic concentration Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from municipal solid wastes (MSW) feedstocks
Processes for producing high biogenic concentration Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW) feedstock that contains a relatively high concentration of biogenic carbon (derived from plants) and a relatively low concentration of non-biogenic carbon (derived from fossil sources) wherein the biogenic content of the Fischer-Tropsch liquids is the same as the biogenic content of the feedstock.
1. A transportation fuel or fuel additive derived from municipal solid wastes that contain materials that are produced from biogenic derived carbon materials, non-biogenic derived carbon materials and non-carbonaceous materials, the transportation fuel or fuel additive derived from a process comprising the steps of:
a) receiving at a biorefinery processed wastes feedstock, the processed feedstock having been processed by removing some of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials from the wastes, to produce the processed feedstock that contains a greater concentration of biogenic carbon than non-biogenic carbon; and
b) converting the processed feedstock into Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) liquids in the bio-refinery having a greater concentration of biogenic carbon than non-biogenic carbon; and
c) upgrading the Fischer-Tropsch liquids into a transportation fuel or fuel additive having a greater concentration of biogenic carbon than non-biogenic carbon.
2. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 wherein the step of converting the processed feedstock into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in the bio-refinery, further comprises: converting the processed feedstock in a gasification island.
3. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 wherein, more than about 10% of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials are removed to form the processed feedstock.
4. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 wherein, up to about 80% of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials are removed to form the processed feedstock.
5. The transportation fuel or additive derived by the process according to claim 1 wherein, between about 10% and about 90% of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials are removed to form the processed feedstock.
6. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 wherein the converting step is carried out in a gasification island by:
steam reforming the processed feedstock to dry, volatilize and gasify the processed feedstock to produce syngas containing CO, H 2 , H 2 O and CO 2 , unreacted char, inert solids and unreacted hydrocarbons;
further gasifying by sub-stoichiometric carbon oxidation; and
hydrocarbon reforming to convert remaining char, hydrocarbons and tars into syngas.
7. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 6 , further comprising:
conditioning the syngas in a syngas conditioning unit configured to receive the syngas from the gasification island and remove contaminants, remove/recover CO 2 and provide a biogenic CO 2 recycle stream for recycling biogenic CO 2 to the gasification island for biogenic carbon conservation and to adjust the H 2 :CO 2 ratio in the syngas to a predetermined value.
8. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel additive is added to fossil based fuels.
9. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel additive is added to jet fuel.
10. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel additive is added to the jet fuel at a percentage of up to 50%.
11. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel additive is added to diesel fuel.
12. The transportation fuel or fuel additive derived by the process according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel additive classifies the transportation fuel or fuel additive as a cellulosic biofuel which generates a renewable identification number (RIN) for said transportation fuel or fuel additive.
13. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 12 wherein the RIN is a form of compliance credits under a renewable fuel standard (RFS) program.
14. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 13 wherein the transportation fuel or fuel additive is blended into fossil derived fuels to establish a RIN credit.
15. The transportation fuel or fuel additive according to claim 7 , further comprising:
converting the syngas into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in one or more F-T reactors;
separating the F-T liquids in a separation system into heavy F-T liquids (HFTL) and medium F-T liquids (MFTL); and
upgrading the separated F-T liquids in an upgrading system comprising a hydrotreating/hydrocracking reactor and fractionation system configured to upgrade the HFTL and MFTL into a transportation fuel.
16. Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) liquids derived from biogenic carbon materials, the Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from a process comprising the steps of:
a) receiving at a biorefinery processed waste feedstock, the processed MSW feedstock having been processed by removing some non-biogenic derived carbon materials from waste that contain materials that are produced from plant derived carbon (biogenic) as well as non-biogenic derived carbon (fossil based) materials, to produce the processed feedstock that contains a greater concentration of biogenic carbon than concentration of non-biogenic carbon; and
b) converting the processed feedstock into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in the bio-refinery having a greater concentration of biogenic carbon than non-biogenic carbon.
17. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the step of converting the processed feedstock into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in the bio-refinery, further comprises: converting the processed feedstock in a gasification island.
18. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 17 wherein up to about 80% of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials are removed to form the processed feedstock.
19. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 17 wherein between about 10% and about 90% of the non-biogenic derived carbon materials are removed to form the processed feedstock.
20. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the step of converting the processed feedstock into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in the bio-refinery, further comprises: converting the processed feedstock in a gasification island.
21. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the converting step is carried out in a gasification island:
steam reforming the processed feedstock to dry, volatilize and gasify the processed feedstock to produce syngas containing CO, H 2 , H 2 O and CO 2 , unreacted char, inert solids and unreacted hydrocarbons;
further gasifying by sub-stoichiometric carbon oxidation; and
hydrocarbon reforming to convert remaining char, hydrocarbons and tars into syngas.
22. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 21 , further comprising:
conditioning the syngas in a syngas conditioning unit configured to receive the syngas from the gasification island and any one or more of: remove contaminants, remove/recover CO 2 and provide a high biogenic CO 2 recycle stream for recycling high biogenic CO 2 to the gasification island for biogenic carbon conservation and to adjust the H 2 :CO 2 ratio in the syngas to a predetermined value.
23. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 21 , further comprising:
converting the syngas into Fischer-Tropsch liquids in one or more F-T reactors.
24. The Fisher-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the concentration of biogenic carbon in the Fisher-Tropsch liquids includes up to about 60% biogenic carbon.
25. The Fisher-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the concentration of biogenic carbon in the Fisher-Tropsch liquids includes up to about 80% biogenic carbon.
26. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids according to claim 16 wherein the concentration of biogenic carbon in the Fischer-Tropsch liquids is up to 90%.
27. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 1 wherein the wastes contain liquids.
28. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 1 wherein the wastes contain organic waste materials.
29. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 1 wherein the waste contains biomass materials.
30. The transportation fuel or fuel additive of claim 29 wherein the biomass materials contain vegetative matter.
31. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids of claim 16 wherein the wastes contain liquids.
32. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids of claim 16 wherein the wastes contain organic waste materials.
33. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids of claim 16 wherein the waste contains biomass materials.
34. The Fischer-Tropsch liquids of claim 33 wherein the biomass materials contain vegetative matter.