Synthesis of an integrated biorefinery via the C-H-O ternary diagram

An integrated biorefinery is designed to handle a wide variety of feedstocks (mainly biomass) and can produce a broad range of products (e.g., biofuel, biochemicals, etc.) via multiple conversion pathways and technologies. Gasification is recognized as one of the most promising technologies for initial processing of biomass. It uses thermal energy to convert the biomass feedstock into a gaseous mixture, which is also known as syngas, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide (CO₂), steam (H₂O), methane (CH ₄), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂). It is noted that the composition of syngas, especially the ratio of H₂ to CO, is crucial when the syngas is further converted to liquid fuels and chemicals. In this work, a graphical targeting approach for the evaluation of gas phase equilibrium composition of biomass gasification is proposed. Based on the targeted composition, a conceptual design of an integrated biorefinery can be systematically developed.