Frontline BioEnergy, LLC

What is Biomass?
Biomass:  
"Organic material of recent biological origin"
 
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Plant residues that have been grown, harvested and disposed of recently
What is are generally classified as "biomass".  What's important about the "recent
Biomass?
biological origin" is that this material has removed carbon dioxide (CO2, which
What is
gasification?
is a dominant "greenhouse gas") from the atmosphere and upgraded it
chemically into an energy rich carbohydrate through a photosynthetic reaction
Management
Team with water.  Biomass is a "renewable" energy feedstock because its abundance
Employment
could persist in perpetuity on the earth with proper silvaculture of this resource.
 
In general, biomass is often thought of as plant material that has a low-value as
generated.  For example, biomass is by product material generated during the
processes of agriculture and forestry.  Biomass is also generated by food and
fiber industries as residues and low-value byproducts of the processes.  It is
generated as a mill waste from the processing of lumber, cotton and sugar
cane, for example "mill residues".  It is generated during the construction and
deconstruction of houses (urban wood waste) and the management of city
parks.   Finally, it is generated by you and I as yard waste and trash usually
destined for landfill deposit.
 
Organic matter, or biomass, can be thought of as a chemical
carbohydrate.  Plant matter, or biomass, has a complex structure of glucose
polymers known as cellulouse and hemicellulous and it also contains
structurally important lignin.  On a moisture free and ash free basis (maf), most
biomass contains ~80% volatile matter and 20% fixed carbon. 
 
There are many approaches to biomass conversion including thermal,
chemical, biological, and oxidative.  Likewise, there are many potential valuable
products that may result from its conversion including heat energy, synthetic
fuels, fertilizer, hydrogen, chemicals, bio-polymers, and even bio-
pharmeceuticals.
 
Biomass is generally more reactive than coal (by comparison), being dominated
by volatile matter with a less significant portion of fixed carbon content. 
Biomass ash contains essentially benign minerals (in contrast to coal that has a
host of bad actors from an air, water and soil pollution perspective), and it has a
lower melting point (compared to coal ash) because it is less refractory in
composition (less alumina and silica, more iron, potassium, phosphorous)
Agricultural Residues ~ 1 B dry Forest Residues (thinning and
T/yr management) ~ 0.4 B dry T/yr
 Bundling of forest residues

Corn Stover: Largest Component of Ag Residue

USDA Estimates 1.4 Billion Tons/year of Biomass

According to the US Department of Agriculture,  the potential biomass annual
supply could be as much as 1.4 Billion dry tons per year! [ref]  This resource is
very large and mostly untapped.  It is comprised mainly of agricultural residues
(~1 B dT/yr), and forestry residues (~0.4 BdT/yr).  As an energy feedstock,
"biomass" could be used to displace a huge amount of imported foreign oil (~1
to 2 B bbl/yr), and therefore it represents a very large
domestic renewable energy reserve. 
How significant is 1.4 B dry T/year of biomass? 
Approximately 70 to 100 Billion gallons peryear of ethanol could be produced
from this "biomass resource" without having to plant a single energy crop.  This
is about 100x the current ethanol production capacity in the USA.
 
The 1.4 BT/yr of biomass resource potential is comprised of approx 1 Billion dry
tons/yr of agricultural residues and 0.4 BdT/yr of potential forestry residues. 
Other sources of biomass feedstock that could also be utilized in the near-term
include urban wood waste (from your local landfill or your own yard), mill
residues, and even new dedicated energy crops.
Other Examples of Biomass  

Wheat Straw: Ag Residue (regionally abundant) Sawdust Pile: Example Mill Residue
 SRC Harvest: Example of an Energy Crop

Pile of Rice Husks

Cotton Gin Waste: Mill/Ag Residue

Made through Photosynthesis
Solar energy (light) is captured by
pigments in higher plants, algae
and cyano-bacteria, and this
energy is used to reduce
atmospheric carbon dioxide gas
into carbohydrate energy through
biological reaction with water
(making its hydrogen available to
the carbohydrate).  The
photosynthesis process removes
carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere while releasing pure
oxygen (see Figure).
 
This natural process creates what we call "biomass" in the form of plant
material or cell mass.  Therefore, solar energy is stored in the form of
carbohydrate chemicals such as cellulose, hemicellulous and lignin. 
 
Cellulose and hemicellulose are polysaccharides of glucose (i.e., they
are polymers of glucose). Hemicellulose is less complex than cellulose
and therefore, more easily hydrolyzed to simple sugars and other
products.  Lignin is an amorphous polymer related to cellulose which
plays an important role in developing plant structure. 
 
As a result of natural plant growth, solar energy is stored in a
concentrated and accessible chemical form we call Biomass.    Biomass
has a similar chemical composition (assuming moisture free and ash fee
basis).  A simplistic formula below illustrates the production of biomass
using solar energy inputs.   Solar collection efficiencies can be as high
as 10% with rapid growing crops such as sugar cane.

Examples of common biomass includes crop residues (wheat straw,

corn stover, nut shells, orchard prunings, vineyard stakes, sugar cane
bagasse, etc.), municipal solid waste (trash, rubbish and refuse),
forest residues (slash, & forest thinning) and urban wood waste
(construction residues, grass clippings and backyard prunings).  There
are also several exciting energy crops that are being developed for
rapid growth and other desirable properties.
Reference Chart:  "USA Supply Curve 2020, Lignocellulosics Only"  Mann and Overend
(NREL);  Presentation to the National Research Council, Washington DC, April 2003. 
(1 PetaJoule = 1 million GJ,  ~0.95 x 10^6 MMBtu)

Proximate Analysis and Ash Properties

Generally biomass has a proximate analysis of 80% volatile matter and
20% fixed carbon, when using a moisture free and ash free basis.  In
contrast, group-1 bituminous coal has 80% fixed carbon and just 20%
volatile matter (maf basis).
 
Ash content for biomass can vary from less than 1% for wood to as
much as 12% for most straw and Bagasse (sugar cane residue).  Ash
can exceed 20% in the case of animal manures.  Biomass ash is valued
as a soil amendment because of mineral nutrients such as phosphate
and potash, unlike coal derived ash. 
 Biomass is usually processed in dry ash gasification systems (non-
slagging) because its go/no-go operating temperature is generally not
more than ~950C or 1000C.  Avoiding peak temperatures above 950 or
1000C in biomass gasification helps prevent ash fusion and chemical
agglomeration problems--for example, localized ash clinkers or
uncontrolled viscous slag formation. Biomass ash has lesser amounts of
refractory oxides (silica and alumina), rather it contains significant
amounts of lower melting point minerals like potash, phosphate, and
calcium and iron oxides.
 
Biomass Heating Value
The raw heating value of biomass is ~20 GJ/dry tonne HHV, or about
18.5 GJ/t LHV at 10% moisture (ash free).  By example, a gallon of
gasoline has ~120 MJ of energy (LHV), so a metric ton of dry biomass
will contain nearly 155 gallons of gasoline equivalent energy in its raw,
unconverted state. 
 
Biomass Conversion
Biomass energy can be extracted for many fuel, chemical and power
generation applications. Today and tomorrow’s biomass refinery
(biorefinery) requires advanced technology well beyond simple
combustion.  Frontline BioEnergy, LLC is developing thermochemical
gasification that is suitable for integration with well developed syngas
catalytic conversion technologies for production of a variety of fuels and
chemicals.  Our approach is to achieve the cleanest gas at the highest
possible efficiencies known to the state-of-the-art. Therefore, tomorrow’s
biorefinery will be able to efficiently produce a variety of products
including syngas, hydrogen, C2+ alcohols, and other chemicals.

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