Gasification

Prior to the Rentech Process, the carbon-bearing feedstock is gasified (or in the case of natural or landfill gas, reformed) under high temperature to produce synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (CO and H₂). In the process of producing syngas for the Rentech Process, carbon dioxide and regulated pollutants are removed and/or captured, and clean synthesis gas is available for and injected into the Rentech reactor.

A synthetic fuels and chemicals facility utilizing the Rentech Process can employ almost any commercially available gasifier to produce syngas for the production of ultra-clean synthetic fuels, specialty waxes and chemicals. In order to be used in conjunction with the Rentech reactor, a gasifier should meet the following requirements:

• H₂/CO ratio of 0.5 to 2.0+ coming from the gasifier
• Low inert content (low methane and tars, low N₂)

Rentech-SilvaGas Biomass Gasification Process

The patented Rentech-SilvaGas Biomass Gasification Process produces syngas from a wide variety of biomass feedstocks. The biomass gasification technology can be integrated with Rentech’s technologies for the production of certified renewable synthetic jet and diesel fuel, or it can produce syngas for renewable electric power or synthetic natural gas production. The life-cycle carbon footprint of renewable fuels and power facilities using the Rentech-SilvaGas gasifier coupled with the Rentech Fischer-Tropsch Process for synthetic fuels will be near zero.

ClearFuels Biomass Gasification Process

Rentech has made a 25% strategic investment in ClearFuels Technology Inc. a biomass gasification and project development company. ClearFuels owns a proprietary flexible biomass gasification technology platform that converts multiple rural cellulosic biomass feedstocks such as sugarcane bagasse and virgin wood waste into clean syngas suitable for integration with synthesis gas-to-liquids technologies.

ClearFuels has signed an exclusive worldwide license with Rentech for the use of Rentech's patented and proprietary Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels technology for the production of renewable drop-in fuels from sugarcane bagasse. ClearFuels has also signed a license with Rentech for the use of the Rentech Fischer-Tropsch Process for the production of renewable synthetic fuels from virgin wood waste at up to twelve U.S.-based projects to be developed by ClearFuels.

To facilitate the development process, ClearFuels will build a 20 ton-per-day biomass gasifier designed to produce syngas from bagasse, virgin wood waste and other cellulosic feedstocks at Rentech's Product Demonstration Unit (PDU) in Colorado. The gasifier will be integrated with Rentech's Fischer-Tropsch Process and UOP's upgrading technology to produce renewable drop-in synthetic jet and diesel fuel at demonstration scale. Rentech and ClearFuels have been selected to receive up to $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to construct the biomass gasifier at RETC.

Over the course of 20 years, more than $20 million has been invested in the development of the technology underlying the highly efficient ClearFuels HEHTR technology platform. Between 1987 and 2004, Pearson Technologies, Inc. developed and tested the underlying biomass gasification technology at a 5 ton per day pilot scale facility in Mississippi, converting a wide range of feedstocks including bagasse, wood waste, rice straw and corn stover, into syngas during over 10,000 hours of operation. From 2005 to 2007, ClearFuels co-funded additional testing of the gasification process for the conversion of bagasse into syngas. Multiple third parties, including Idaho National Laboratory and Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, have independently validated the results of the biomass gasification testing at the pilot facility. ClearFuels has since further developed the HEHTR technology platform with its EPC and fabrication partners.

For more information on gasification or the role it plays in clean energy production, please visit www.gasification.org. If you are a gasification technology provider and have questions or comments, please contact Rentech at info@rentk.com.