Screening and evaluation of biomass upgrading strategies for sustainable transportation fuel production with biomass-derived volatile fatty acids
Jacob H. Miller,
Stephen M. Tifft,
Matthew R. Wiatrowski,
Pahola Thathiana Benavides,
Nabila A. Huq,
Earl D. Christensen,
Teresa Alleman,
Cameron Hays,
Jon Luecke,
Colin M. Kneucker,
Stefan J. Haugen,
Violeta Sànchez i Nogué,
Eric M. Karp,
Troy R. Hawkins,
Avantika Singh,
Derek R. Vardon
Affiliations
Jacob H. Miller
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA; Corresponding author
Stephen M. Tifft
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Matthew R. Wiatrowski
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Pahola Thathiana Benavides
Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Nabila A. Huq
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Earl D. Christensen
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA; Alder Fuels, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Teresa Alleman
Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Cameron Hays
Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Jon Luecke
Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Colin M. Kneucker
Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Stefan J. Haugen
Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Violeta Sànchez i Nogué
Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Eric M. Karp
Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Troy R. Hawkins
Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Avantika Singh
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Derek R. Vardon
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scaleup Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA; Alder Fuels, Washington, DC 20007, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals is crucial to decarbonization, but choosing an advantageous upgrading pathway out of many options is challenging. Rigorously evaluating all candidate pathways (process simulation, product property testing) requires a prohibitive amount of research effort; even simple upgrading schemes have hundreds of possible permutations. We present a method enabling high-throughput screening by approximating upgrading unit operations and drop-in compatibility of products (e.g., fuel properties) and apply it to volatile fatty acid (VFA) conversion to liquid transportation fuels via a MATLAB script, VFA Upgrading to Liquid Transportation fUels Refinery Estimation (VULTURE). VULTURE selects upgrading configurations that maximize fuel blend bio-derived content. We validate VULTURE’s approximations through surrogate fuel property testing and process simulation. Techno-economic and life cycle analyses suggest that VFA upgrading processes down-selected by VULTURE are profitable and have low carbon intensities, demonstrating the potential for the strategy to accelerate process development timelines at decreased costs.
