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CURRENT STATUS OF TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS

The production of methanol from biomass is also gaining momentum. This includes agricultural
waste, lignocelluloic and domestic waste, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) as well as heavy
petroleum residue. For biomass based plants, to have a viable capacity with sustainable feed
supply round the year is a challenge. Therefore, most of the efforts are around designing a
gasifier which is able to handle multiple feed stocks. A comprehensive summary was published
in 2009 by E4 technologies [11]. Due to the requirement of feed preparation and syngas cleaning,
the cost of production of syngas from biomass is always higher than that of natural gas based
plants. However, the economics of the biomass gasification route is very much dependent on
the local conditions [26]. The cost of available biomass, sustained feed availability or use of
multiple biomass feeds for uninterrupted operation, plant capacity etc. are the main factors. If,
however, we consider carbon credit alone, then the biomass route is invariably economical.
Although technology is still at early stage, with the experience gained by many demonstration
and pilot plants all over the world, it would be possible to estimate the technical and economic
feasibility of a commercial plant.

3.3 Processing of Different Feed stocks Simultaneously

The success of biomass gasification depends on sustainability, input cost and the ability of
the plant to process locally available cheap biomass sources. As a general practice, many
plants currently operate with a variety of feed stocks. A recent report from China indicates the
possibility for co-processing syngas from biomass and biogas from a digester simultaneously
to produce methanol/DME [27].
From the available technologies it appears that no commercial technology is available for
processing different types of feed stocks in the same plant. There are some demonstration
plants which are designed to process a few selected feedstocks. In addition to the processing
of varieties of biomass, even standard coal / petroleum coke based gasifiers could co-process
solid wastes of biological origin. Some currently operating demonstration/pilot plants are
designed to process a wide variety of feedstocks from glycerin to black liquor [28].
In addition to the gasification of biomass and solid waste, the biogas produced from landfill and
anaerobic digesters could also be co-processed profitably even at a moderate scale. Maverick
Oasis offers a technology for economically viable production of methanol at smaller scale [29].
Oberon is offering a skid mounted DME plant based on natural gas and biogas for 3,000 to
10,000 gal/day capacity [30]. Oberon has recently announced setting up of a 45,000 gallon
DME unit based on bio waste in California [31].
With the recent drop of glycerin price there is interest in its conversion to useful products.
Methanol/DME is the most attractive option. In 2008 Bio MCN commissioned a pilot plant
for glycerol based DME production [32]. Black liquor is another convenient source for bio
methanol, hence a number of studies have been reported during the last several years. A
detailed feasibility study was conducted by the European Commission, which established
the technical and economic feasibility of production of methanol /DME from black liquor [9].
Recently, Chemrec started operating a pilot plant for production of DME from black liquor
[33]. Although there is wide diversity in the types of biomass, with the experience gained in
operating gasification, gas cleaning, and syngas conversion steps for many years, it seems
possible to put together the available knowledge and technology to design and operate bio
methanol/bio DME plants with confidence.

At present a large number of biomass based heat/power generation plants are operating
all over the world, including in India. Many of these plants handle varied types of biomass
and waste. With the recent development in medium size gas turbines for power generation,
the economic viability has further improved to produce power from biomass with low carbon

Methanol and DME Production: Survey and Roadmap | 2017 49