Production of second generation biofuels : the Cold Catalytic Conversion technology

Abstract

First generation biofuels appear unsustainable because of the potential stress that their production places food commodities. Second generation biofuels derived from lignocellulosic agriculture and forest residues, from non-food crop feedstock and industrial secondary raw materials. The procedure of second generation of biofuels allows the entire biomass to be used. The worldwide market demand for liquid fuels such as heavy fuel, light fuel, diesel oil and fuel for heat supplied from renewable resources. The constantly rising demand for energy has led to the excessive use of fossil sources of energy. This has spiked oil costs and most recently caused a parallel rise in food costs. Regenerative sources of energy come from directly solar energy, i.e. photovoltaic, tidal energy, wind force, geothermal energy and biomass - plant bounded solar power - as well as using secondary raw materials as its input reducing the need for landfills. In highly populated urban centres the growth of municipal waste has become a menacing problem. This study will find an answer for the use of unused resources in production of liquid fuels - so called second generation of biofuels. The Cold Catalytic Conversion Technology - the depolymerisation of organic substances - is a process in production of hydrocarbon fuels. The main focus of this study is to evaluate the long term availability of the feedstock as well as the technical and financial feasibility of the CCC-Technology. The CCC-system is one of the most efficient economical and ecological technologies for the production of liquid fuels. The study based on cash flow analysis will show, that the investment in the CCC-Technology will guarantee a high income even in the worstcase of rising feedstock costs. The carried out case study highlights exactly this result. The CCC-process provides proven and sustainable solutions for the conversion of a wide variety of organic feedstock into crude oil or gasoil. Biomass and solid organic municipal waste guarantee a high efficiency of the system. The Master Thesis should give a technical description of the CCC-process as well as the projection, construction and implementation of a CCC-power-plant.