Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Syngas from waste being delivered to cellulosic ethanol biorefinery

Through a plasma gasification process this facility is able to provide syngas with the right composition for conversion to ethanol. The feedstock can vary in composition, and this syngas could be tailored for other uses such as generating electricity. If plasma gasification proves viable on a large scale, it could provide the flexibility needed for large-scale utilization of waste products on a commercially viable basis.
ALTER NRG CORP. Alter NRG Corp. announces the Westinghouse Plasma Centre is delivering clean syngas to Coskata's ethanol facility: "Coskata's proprietary process was analyzed by Argonne National Laboratory, who found that every unit of fossil energy used, in turn generated up to 7.7 times the amount of energy which is significantly better than the current ethanol industry. It was also found that it reduces CO(2) emissions by up to 96 percent compared with a well-to-wheel analysis of gasoline. The feedstock-flexible process utilizes non- food biomass, thereby providing an opportunity to produce fuel-grade ethanol in greater quantities and at a lower cost point than that produced from food-based sources (corn, sugar, etc.)."