BioTfuel: A Project to Produce Biofuels via Thermochemical Conversion

April 07, 2015

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(Total) The BioTfueL project focuses on producing second-generation biodiesel and bio-jet fuel via thermochemical conversion. Total is working with five partners to bring the process to commercial-scale production.

In the BioTfueL project, Total is working with five partners to develop technologies for converting lignocellulosic biomass, such as straw, forest waste and dedicated energy crops, into biofuels. The project partners' ambitious objective is to make it possible to produce 200,000 metric tons of biodiesel and bio-jet fuel per year from one million metric tons of biomass by 2020. But first, the technology needs to be validated for use on a commercial scale.

Six Partners Pursuing an Ambitious Project

The six BioTfueL project partners each contribute knowledge and expertise in their respective fields:

Axens in the design of catalytic processes, especially Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
IFP Energies Nouvelles and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in research and innovation.
Sofiprotéol in sourcing.
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions in gasification technology.
Total in the development of industrial projects and the formulation of transportation fuels.

Production will be divided into two phases. First, the biomass will be torrefied at Sofiprotéol's facility near Compiègne, then the subsequent process steps will be carried out at Total’s site in Dunkirk.

The goal is to process three metric tons of biomass per hour. The test phase will be completed by the end of 2017, with a view to producing biodiesel and bio-jet fuelcommercially by 2020.

Feedstock Flexibility, a Competitive Strength

First-generation biofuels are produced using edible plants like wheat and sugar beet. But BioTfueL focuses exclusively on plant waste, including forest waste, straw and green waste, and on dedicated lignocellulosic crops.

In addition, biomass is not the only resource used. The project partners have opted for a coprocessing solution, so that the biomass feedstock can be supplemented by fossil fuel resources like crude oil and coal when necessary. As a result, the technique is suitable for all seasons and a variety of environments.

The pathway chosen to convert both liquid and solid feedstocks is thermochemical conversion.

The production process can be broken down into four steps:

The pretreatment step is when the biomass is dried, ground and torrefied. Torrefaction is one of the project’s main technological barriers, because it is not currently used in a large-scale commercial application for this type of raw material.
The powder obtained during pretreatment is transported to the Total site near Dunkirk. There, it is exposed to very high temperatures of between 1,200 and 1,600°C inside a gasifier in the presence of a small quantity of oxygen, which converts it into syngas.
The syngas then needs to undergo purification, another step that has never been implemented on a commercial scale given the purity required for Fischer-Tropsch conversion.
The final conversion into biofuel is carried out via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a process that is already widely used for other applications.

The biodiesel and bio-jet fuel produced using the BioTfueL project method is free of sulfur and aromatic compounds. Similar in nature to petroleum products, which do not contain oxygen or esters, they will be suitable for use in all types of diesel and jet engines. READ MORE