Bio-refinery system of DME or CH4 production from black liquor gasification in pulp mills

Bioresour Technol. 2010 Feb;101(3):937-44. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.08.086. Epub 2009 Sep 19.

Abstract

There is great interest in developing black liquor gasification technology over recent years for efficient recovery of bio-based residues in chemical pulp mills. Two potential technologies of producing dimethyl ether (DME) and methane (CH(4)) as alternative fuels from black liquor gasification integrated with the pulp mill have been studied and compared in this paper. System performance is evaluated based on: (i) comparison with the reference pulp mill, (ii) fuel to product efficiency (FTPE) and (iii) biofuel production potential (BPP). The comparison with the reference mill shows that black liquor to biofuel route will add a highly significant new revenue stream to the pulp industry. The results indicate a large potential of DME and CH(4) production globally in terms of black liquor availability. BPP and FTPE of CH(4) production is higher than DME due to more optimized integration with the pulping process and elimination of evaporation unit in the pulp mill.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biofuels*
  • Carbon Dioxide / chemistry
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Industrial Waste
  • Methane / chemistry
  • Methane / isolation & purification*
  • Methyl Ethers / chemistry
  • Methyl Ethers / isolation & purification*
  • Models, Chemical
  • Paper*
  • Refuse Disposal
  • Temperature
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Water Purification / methods*

Substances

  • Biofuels
  • Industrial Waste
  • Methyl Ethers
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • dimethyl ether
  • Methane