Subtask 3.4 - Fischer - Tropsch Fuels Development

Under Subtask 3.4, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) examined the opportunities and challenges facing Fischer–Tropsch (FT) technology in the United States today. Work was completed in two distinct budget periods (BPs). In BP1, the EERC examined the technical feasibility of using modern warm-gas cleanup techniques for FT synthesis. FT synthesis is typically done using more expensive and complex cold-gas sweetening. Warm-gas cleanup could greatly reduce capital and operating costs, making FT synthesis more attractive for domestic fuel production. Syngas was generated from a variety of coal and biomass types; cleaned of sulfur, moisture, and condensables; and then passed over a pilot-scale FT catalyst bed. Laboratory and modeling work done in support of the pilot-scale effort suggested that the catalyst was performing suboptimally with warm-gas cleanup. Long-term trends showed that the catalyst was also quickly deactivating. In BP3, the EERC compared FT catalyst results using warm-gas cleanup to results using cold-gas sweetening. A gas-sweetening absorption system (GSAS) was designed, modeled, and constructed to sweeten syngas between the gasifier and the pilot-scale FT reactor. Results verified that the catalyst performed much better with gas sweetening than it had with warm-gas cleanup. The catalyst also showed no signs of rapid deactivation when the GSAS was running. Laboratory tests in support of this effort verified that the catalyst had deactivated quickly in BP1 because of exposure to syngas, not because of any design flaw with the pilot-scale FT reactor itself. Based on these results, the EERC concludes that the two biggest issues with using syngas treated with warm-gas cleanup for FT synthesis are high concentrations of CO{sub 2} and volatile organic matter. Other catalysts tested by the EERC may be more tolerant of CO{sub 2}, but volatile matter removal is critical to ensuring long-term FT catalyst operation. This subtask was funded through the EERC–U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Program on Research and Development for Fossil Energy-Related Resources Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26-08NT43291. Nonfederal funding for BP1 was provided by the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) Renewable Energy Council