F. Liotta
Petron Scientech Inc,
United States
Keywords: cellulosic, ethylene, renewable chemicals, plastics, polymers, ethanol, biofuels, SAF
Summary:
Biomass Based Ethylene – The Foundation a Low Carbon Future Dr. Frank Liotta, Petron Scientech Inc. ABSTRACT Various types of biomass such as agriculture wastes/residues and sustainably sourced woody biomass can be utilized to produce low carbon renewable ethylene. With its $200 billion global market, ethylene is the foundation of the chemical industry and can be converted into a wide range of chemicals, plastics, and fuels. All of which can be made renewable through the use of bio-ethylene. Similarly to a petroleum refinery where petroleum is used to produce a range of value-added products, bio-ethylene produced biomass in a single large unit, which results in lower per unit production cost, can be used to produce multiple products, such as renewable polyethylene and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The entire process for conversion of biomass to biofuels and renewable chemicals presents a highly efficient, integrated and a low carbon sustainable alternative to fossil fuels as a solution urgently needed to combat climate change and for meeting the Net Zero Goals by 2050. The integrated process backed by extensive IP involves i) conversion of biomass into bioethanol as an intermediate via Petron’s highly efficient and commercially demonstrated Cellulosic Ethanol (G2.0) technology, and ii) dehydration (water removal) of bioethanol into high purity bio-ethylene by Petron’s improved and lower energy and carbon intensity, process. Various grades of ethylene can be produced to meet the requirements of downstream chemicals and fuels applications. The biomass feedstock undergoes efficient pretreatment and is converted into constituent sugars via action of enzymes followed by fermentation into ethanol with high efficiency and yields. The ethanol is then purified to the required quality and directly fed into Petron’s proprietary Ethanol to Ethylene (EtE) process. The non-converted process residues are used as renewable fuel for green energy production. Bioethanol is converted to bio-ethylene over a proprietary catalyst to produce high quality ethylene, which is drop-in for use in conventional process plants to produce renewable plastics, chemical and biofuel production. The biorefinery is designed with a focus on sustainability. Not only is energy consumption minimized, but the water produced from the production of ethylene is fully recycled back into the process requiring minimum freshwater, resulting in near-zero effluent generation. This paper presents a low cost, efficient and integrated biorefinery concept converting biomass into low carbon renewable ethylene - the foundation of the global chemical industry for biofuels, plastics and bio-based chemicals production. The bioethanol produced from the biomass becomes a platform for production of renewable ethylene - the heart of the chemical industry – which can be converted further into biofuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as well as downstream renewable chemicals and plastics.