BioSyngas

Synthesis gas (shortly: syngas) contains mainly hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), which can be used in a catalytic process to synthesize all kind of products such as methanol, oils, diesel, ammonia, methane, etc. Syngas can also be used as a source for pure hydrogen. Furthermore, syngas can be burned in e.g. a gas turbine to produce electricity and heat.

Annually, a total of about 6 EJ of syngas is produced worldwide, corresponding to almost 2% of the present total worldwide primary energy consumption (ECN-C--06-001). This even is 5% for the Netherlands due to the presence of much (petro) chemical industry. The syngas mainly originates from fossil energy sources like coal, natural gas and oil/residues. The present syngas market however, offers an excellent opportunity for a smooth transition from fossil fuel to biomass. Final products like chemicals, transportation fuels and power can become more sustainable if present systems (partly) operate on biomass instead of fossil fuels. The intermediate syngas then is called BioSyngas.

The conversion of biomass to BioSyngas can be done in roughly two ways:

1. Apply existing coal and oil residue gasifiers, such as entrained flow reactors. Since biomass cannot 'simply' replace these fossil fuels, additional biomass pre-treatment is required. This option is attractive because it can rely on commercially available gasification technologies enabling quick implementation at large scale. More info.
2. Apply dedicated biomass gasification processes such as a fluidized bed reactor. Since these type of gasifiers do not produce H₂ and CO only, additional gas treatment such as a catalytic reformer is required to convert the hydrocarbons. This option is attractive for its high efficiency. This option is very simular to the technologies needed to produce bioSNG. More info.