6. ALTERNATIVE FEEDSTOCKS TO CHEMICALS
The U.S. chemical industry used 6.4 quads of energy in 2004, 6.4% of the total U.S. energy consumption. Approximately 47% of this energy was used for fuel and power production, and 53% (3.4 quads) were used as feedstocks for production of thousands of industrial products including plastics, pharmaceuticals, electronic materials, and fertilizers. The chemical industry is the single largest user of natural gas, accounting for 10% of all U.S. natural gas consumption. Although coal, biomass, etc. can be used as hydrocarbon feedstocks, naptha, natural gas condensates, and natural gas account for 99% of the feedstock materials used by the chemical industry. Natural gas is predominately used to manufacture methanol and ammonia, and 70% of the U.S. olefins (particularly ethylene) production is based on natural gas condensates. As the U.S. supply of natural gas and natural gas condensate has decreased and prices have risen in the 2000s, production of these chemicals has been transferred overseas. In 2004 about 50% of the U.S. methanol, 45% of the ammonia, and 15% of the ethylene capacity were shutdown, and the percentage transferred overseas has increased since that date. This has resulted in the U.S. chemical industry having a trade deficit for the first time in history, negatively impacting the U.S. GDP. The Nation must address growing environmental issues, supply issues, and energy prices in supplying energy in the future.
Efforts to increase industrial cost-competitiveness, boost energy efficiency, increase productivity, increase energy security, and prevent pollution demand will require that traditional chemical feedstocks (petroleum and natural gas) be supplemented with materials that are abundant in the U.S. In response to these needs, the Department of Energy is seeking the development of alternative feedstock pathways for large-scale commodity chemical production (i.e., produced in quantities greater than 1 x 106 tons/year). Near-term opportunities should focus on feedstock substitutions to make existing products with minimal changes in existing manufacturing facilities. Long-term opportunities will involve manufacture of new products involving new chemistries and potentially new processing equipment. Of particular interest are grant applications that offer the potential to improve the state of the art, be more cost effective than current techniques for producing alternative feedstocks, and be applicable to broad segments of the industry. Grant applications must address the potential public benefits that the proposed technology would provide from reduced consumption of petroleum and natural gas and from reduced pollutants. Analyses have shown that the most promising applications for broad benefit include the production of olefins (ethylene, propylene, and butadiene), aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylene), paraffinic derivatives (mono ethylene glycol, mono propylene glycol, and propylene oxide), acetone, and formaldehyde from coal, biomass, and to a lesser extent from crude derived from oil shale and tar sands. Grant applications should include a review of the state-of-the-art of the targeted application in the U.S., including a review of current inefficiencies. Strategies to overcome these inefficiencies should be identified and practical means to address them developed. Approaches must demonstrate an attractive cost over a practical range of energy costs. The cost of applying the new technology and the ease of implementation are also important. Grant applications are sought in the following subtopics only:
a. Coal to Chemicals—Research has been funded for
conversion of coal to fuels by gasification and liquefaction processes.
However, much less research has been directed towards use of coal as a feedstock
for large-scale chemical production. Grant applications are sought that build
on power production research but address technical issues that are unique to
production of alternative feedstocks. Improved separations are required to
remove minor impurities that would not impact power generation but could
negatively impact chemical production and byproduct formation. These include,
but are not limited to, heavy metals and alkalis. Separations processes that
minimize the generation of secondary waste and CO2 are also of
interest; emissions of SOx, NOx, mercury, and heavy
elements should be minimized. The impact of
coal composition on chemical production must be addressed, i.e. lignite,
bituminous, versus sub-bituminous coal and sulfur content. Modification of the
existing Fischer-Tropsch process for production of chemicals rather than fuels
would be of interest. Processes that blend coal and biomass feedstocks would
also be of interest.
Questions - contact Charles Russomanno
(charles.russomanno@hq.doe.gov)
b. Cellulose-Based Biomass to Chemicals—Research has
been funded for conversion of biomass to liquid fuels via thermochemical
gasification and fermentation. Some research has been funded by the Department
of Energy for production of small-volume chemicals via fermentation technology
using sugar-based biomass feedstock. However, much less research has been
directed towards use of biomass as a feedstock for large-scale chemical
production. Grant applications are sought that address technical issues that
are unique to production of alternative feedstocks for the production of
commodity chemicals. Improved separations are required for pretreatment of
cellulose, lignin, etc. and removal of byproducts to allow use as feedstocks.
Cost effective scale-up methodologies for biologically-based processes must be
developed to allow economic production of commodity chemicals. Of particular
interest are fermentation technologies that produce feedstocks from
cellulose-based biomass rather than starch and sugar-based materials, such as
corn and sugar cane, which compete with food chain components. Development of
new chemical pathways is needed (for example: alcohols to acids, aldehydes to
acids, alcohols to aldehydes, acids to alcohols, dehydration to lactones and
anhydrides) when starting from more oxidized material than petrochemicals.
Questions - contact Charles Russomanno
(charles.russomanno@hq.doe.gov)
c. Tar Sands and Heavy Oil to Chemicals—Research has
been funded for conversion of heavy crude to liquid fuels. However, little
research has been directed towards their use as a feedstock for large-scale
chemical production. Grant applications are sought that address technical
issues that are unique to production of alternative feedstocks. To date there
has been very little research on the use of heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands or
bituminous sands for chemicals production because these sources of oil have only
recently become cost competitive with natural gas and oil. Heavy oil derived
from tar sands has a higher aromatic content than conventional crude. The key
aspect that needs to be addressed in the use of heavy oil for chemicals is the
development of a ring opening catalyst to break down the polyaromatic tar
compounds into smaller molecules, such as that used for selective
cycloparaffinic ring opening. These catalysts must be resistant to impurities
such as sulfur and nitrogen-containing compounds, and to coating with ultrafine
particles. Chemical processes that minimize the use of hydrogen are desirable.
Research of interest also includes blending of viscous, high molecular weight
hydrocarbons from tar sands to adjust physical properties for use in chemical
production.
Questions - contact Charles Russomanno
(charles.russomanno@hq.doe.gov)
References:
1. "Chemicals Industry of the Future," U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Website. (URL: http://www.eere.energy.gov/industry/chemicals/)
2. [Industrial Technologies Program] Strategic Plan, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Website. (URL: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/about/strategic_plan.html)
3. Biomass Program, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Website. (URL: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/)
4. McFarlane, J., ed., “Survey of Alternative Feedstocks for the Chemical Industry,” Draft: State-of-the-art literature survey performed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Chemical Industry Vision2020 Technology Partnership, U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, June 2006. (Full text available at: http://vision2020.chemicals.govtools.us/alternative%20feedstocks%20white%20paper.pdf)
5. McFarlane, J. and Robinson, S., “Alternative Feedstocks in Chemicals Manufacturing,” presented at Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Conference, Washington, DC, June 27, 2006, U.S. DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2006. (Presentation slides available at: http://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cppr/y2001/pres/124993.pdf)
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