(403e) Technoeconomic Analysis of Pyrolysis and Electrocatalysis Depots

Biomass upgrading depots are small-scale facilities that serve to densify raw feedstocks into transportable and salable commodities with increased energy and economic value. Decentralized systems seek to find the optimum balance of â??economies of scaleâ? and â??economies of transportation,â? while creating a venue for value addition to rural communities. Fast pyrolysis is a thermochemical technology that can be deployed in small-scale depots to deconstruct and densify biomass by rapid heating (400-600°C) without oxygen to create bio-oil, biochar, and combustible gas. Bio-oil is a bulk dense and energy dense liquid that is less costly to transport than raw biomass. However, bio-oil is limited as a fuel intermediate because of its poor chemical properties, namely high oxygen content, corrosiveness, and potential to react and form sludge. As a remedy, electrocatalytic hydrogenation and deoxygenation (ECH) has been proposed to partially upgrade bio-oil to create a stable fuel intermediate. ECH works by saturating carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen double bonds as well as cleaving certain ether linkages on a catalytic cathode. Though ECH is capable of upgrading bio-oil, the cost of doing so must not be prohibitive to its adoption. The economic viability of pyrolysis-ECH depots is a function of capital costs, operating costs, and product values. In this regard, a technoeconomic analysis of pyrolysis-ECH depots will be described to reveal the tradeoffs between depot capacity and the variable costs of transportation. Sensitivities to biomass purchase price, moisture content, electricity source, and electricity cost will be examined. ECH could be the keystone technology in biomass upgrading depots, leading to regionally produced commodities and revenue generation in rural communities.