Production of ammonia, methanol, and synthesis products from one or more gasification products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12325634-B2
Application number	US-202217725296-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2022
Priority date	Apr 23, 2021
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

Ammonia, methanol, Fischer Tropsch products, and derivatives thereof are made by using hydrogen and oxygen supplied from an electrolyzer that is at least partially powered by renewable power, resulting in green process and systems that produce green products disclosed herein. A process using biomass and renewable energy includes producing an unshifted syngas from biomass and oxygen in a gasification unit, introducing water into an electrolyzer to produce an oxygen product and a hydrogen product, and introducing the oxygen product to the gasification unit. The electrolyzer is powered by renewable energy, and the oxygen product supplies at least a portion of the oxygen to the gasification unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a gasification unit configured to produce an unshifted syngas from biomass and oxygen;
an electrolyzer coupled to the gasification unit and configured to receive water and to produce an oxygen product and a hydrogen product;
an air stream connected to the gasification unit and configured to supply air to the gasification unit, wherein the air stream supplies at least a portion of oxygen to the gasification unit;
a heat exchanger coupled to the gasification unit and configured to cool the unshifted syngas to produce a cooled syngas;
a water gas shift unit coupled to the heat exchanger and configured to receive the cooled syngas and to produce a shifted syngas;
a sulfur removal unit coupled to the water gas shift unit and configured to receive the shifted syngas and to produce a sulfur depleted syngas and a sulfur product;
an absorption unit coupled to the sulfur removal unit and configured to receive the sulfur depleted syngas, remove carbon dioxide from the sulfur depleted syngas, and produce a CO 2 depleted syngas and a CO 2 product;
a methanation unit coupled to the absorption unit and configured to receive the CO 2 depleted syngas to produce a treated gasification product comprising hydrogen and nitrogen; and
a combiner configured to receive the treated gasification product and the hydrogen product and to produce an ammonia synthesis feed stream having a mole ratio of hydrogen to nitrogen of about 3:1,
wherein the oxygen product supplies at least a portion of the oxygen to the gasification unit, and
wherein the electrolyzer is coupled to a renewable energy source.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an ammonia synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive the ammonia synthesis feed stream from the combiner and to produce an ammonia product.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a urea synthesizer coupled to the ammonia synthesizer and configured to receive the ammonia product and a CO 2 feed stream and to produce a urea product and a water product.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a CO 2 treatment unit coupled to the absorption unit and to the urea synthesizer and configured to receive the CO 2 product from the absorption unit and to produce the CO 2 feed stream.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
the sulfur removal unit coupled to the heat exchanger and configured to receive the unshifted syngas and to produce the sulfur depleted syngas and the sulfur product;
an absorption unit coupled to the sulfur removal unit and configured to receive the sulfur depleted syngas, remove carbon dioxide from the sulfur depleted syngas, and produce the treated gasification product and a CO 2 product; and
the combiner configured to receive the treated gasification product and at least a portion of the hydrogen product and to produce a synthesis feed stream that satisfies the following: [moles H 2 −moles CO 2 ]/[moles CO+moles CO 2 ]=2.05.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the combiner is configured to receive all of the hydrogen product to produce the synthesis feed stream, the system further comprising:
a methanol synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive the synthesis feed stream and to produce a methanol product and a water product; and
a derivatives synthesizer coupled to the methanol synthesizer and configured to receive the methanol product and to produce formaldehyde, dimethyl ether (DME), gasoline, acetic acid, formic acid, ethanol, ethylene, propylene, or a combination thereof.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
a splitter coupled to the electrolyzer and configured to split the hydrogen product into a first portion and a second portion, wherein the combiner is coupled to the splitter and configured to receive the first portion of the hydrogen product to form the synthesis feed stream; and
a Fischer Tropsch (FT) synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive the synthesis feed stream and to produce a FT product, a wax product, and a water product.

8. A system comprising:
a gasification unit configured to produce an unshifted syngas from biomass and oxygen;
an electrolyzer coupled to the gasification unit and configured to receive water and to produce an oxygen product and a hydrogen product;
a heat exchanger coupled to the gasification unit and configured to cool the unshifted syngas to produce a cooled syngas;
a sulfur removal unit coupled to the heat exchanger and configured to receive the unshifted syngas and to produce a sulfur depleted syngas and a sulfur product;
an absorption unit coupled to the sulfur removal unit and configured to receive the sulfur depleted syngas, remove carbon dioxide from the sulfur depleted syngas, and produce a treated gasification product and a CO 2 product; and
a combiner configured to receive the treated gasification product and at least a portion of the hydrogen product and to produce a synthesis feed stream that satisfies the following: [moles H 2 −moles CO 2 ]/[moles CO+moles CO 2 ]=2.05,
wherein the oxygen product supplies at least a portion of the oxygen to the gasification unit, and
wherein the electrolyzer is coupled to a renewable energy source.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the combiner is configured to receive all of the hydrogen product to produce the synthesis feed stream, the system further comprising:
a methanol synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive the synthesis feed stream and to produce a methanol product and a water product; and
a derivatives synthesizer coupled to the methanol synthesizer and configured to receive the methanol product and to produce formaldehyde, dimethyl ether (DME), gasoline, acetic acid, formic acid, ethanol, ethylene, propylene, or a combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising:
a splitter coupled to the electrolyzer and configured to split the hydrogen product into a first portion and a second portion, wherein the combiner is coupled to the splitter and configured to receive the first portion of the hydrogen product to form the synthesis feed stream; and
a Fischer Tropsch (FT) synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive the synthesis feed stream and to produce a FT product, a wax product, and another water product.

11. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:
an ammonia synthesizer coupled to the combiner and configured to receive an ammonia synthesis feed stream from the combiner and to produce an ammonia product.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a urea synthesizer coupled to the ammonia synthesizer and configured to receive the ammonia product and a CO 2 feed stream and to produce a urea product and a water product.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a CO 2 treatment unit coupled to the absorption unit and to the urea synthesizer unit and configured to receive the CO 2 product from the absorption unit and to produce the CO 2 feed stream.

14. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a urea-formaldehyde synthesizer coupled to the urea synthesizer and configured to receive at least a portion of the urea product from the urea synthesizer and to produce a urea formaldehyde produce.

15. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
a urea-formaldehyde synthesizer coupled to the urea synthesizer and configured to receive at least a portion of the urea product from the urea synthesizer and to produce a urea formaldehyde produce.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mole ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxid

Assignees

• Fluor Tech Corp

Inventors

• Ravikumar Ravi
• Singhal Sunil
• Choudhury Soumya Jyoti
• Singh Kakul

Classifications

• B01J6/008

  Pyrolysis reactions (of hydrocarbons C10G9/00) · CPC title

• C01B2203/042

  Purification by adsorption on solids · CPC title

• C01B2203/0415

  Purification by absorption in liquids · CPC title

• C01B2203/0266

  containing a decomposition step · CPC title

• C01B2203/0283

  containing a CO-shift step, i.e. a water gas shift step · CPC title