1WORLD BIOENERGY 06

Transforming biomass to Dieselfuel by catalytic depolimerizationLow pressure low temperature low costsThe KDV-method from Alphakat GermanyEdwin Krzesinski

AVBP Sweden

ABSTRACT

Soaring prices for crude oil during the last years with tops over 70 US $ per barrel have directed attention to the oil sector Problems in supply are often explained with natural disasters and political turmoil in Nigeria and Iran There is also rising concern about the peaking of total world oil production Especially the transportation sector is relying on liquid fossil fuels In order to mitigate future shortfalls of crude oil supply people all over the world are looking for technologies to replace fossil fuels with alternative fuels like RME DME and Ethanol The KDV-method from Alphakat produces ready-to-use synthetic Diesel in one step by catalytic depolimerization

Keywords BTL (Biomass to Liquid) catalytic depolimerization synthetic mineral diesel fuel

INTRODUCTION

In the 1950s the American geologist King M Hubbard predicted the peaking of the American oil production for 1970 The oil crisis in the begin-ning of the1970s ought to have been a wake-up call for governments around the globe to start preparing for alternatives to crude oil But when supply went up and prices down many countries went back to business as usual

Today we know that most oil producing countries have reached their peak and are declining

SWEDEN

After the oil crisis in the early 70s Sweden started to replace oil for heating purposes and power gen-eration with domestic alternatives During 2005 yet another program with subsidies was decided on for heating purposes with wood chips replacing central oil heating Also efficiency programs for the use of energy have been carried out and are going on

One important lesson from the past should not be forgotten Whenever there was a new technical solution with better energy efficiency the total use of energy increased over timesup1

In the fall of 2005 a Swedish Oil Commission headed by Swedish Prime Minister Goumlran Persson started with the aim to break Swedenrsquos dependency of fossil oil until the year 2020 Several public hearings have been arranged and the commission is expected to present a plan for alternatives in June 2006

As recently as April 27 this year the Secretary Gen-eral for the Oil Commission Mr Stefan Edman expressed his views in an interview with the Swed-ish newspaper Dagens Nyheter

He described a vision of planting trees on 500 000 hectares of arable land in order to produce enough bio mass for conversion processes to bio diesel And he stated

ldquoIf we replace car motors for gasoline with new diesel motors we can break fossil oil dependence even if we may not make it to the year 2020 In my opinion it is possible to replace two thirds of fossil gasoline and diesel with renewable dieselrdquo

Liquid fuels for transportation remain the area where progress with alternatives is slow Research in Gasification of biomass (Fischer-Tropsch) is carried out and research reports of full scale plants have been published by the Biofuel regionsup2

2 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

This presentation describes a new and innovative process to produce Diesel fuel without pressurizing and at a maximum of 350ordm Celsius using a catalyst

INTERNATIONAL

Especially interesting in this context is the ldquoHirsch reportrdquo that was published in February 2005 in the USsup3 Hirsch is pointing out the importance of starting as early as possible before the global peak of oil production is reached His conclusion is that three decades before the peak would be a minimum of time to adjust society to a decreasing supply of oil And there are concerns from ASPO (4) (Association for the Study of Peak Oil) that the peak of oil production will occur in the next 10 years

THE KDV-METHOD

Dried substance of input material from any biomass (forest residues energy crops etc) is fed into an oil suspension which is preheated to about 350ordm C The oil is circulated without pressurizing through the plant The hydrocarbons of the input material are split under the impact of a catalytic converter inside a fluidity rotation unit The Diesel steam is separated in a distillation column and led to a storage tank

Remaining substances are a carbonate paste con-sisting of pure carbon residues and minimal parts of oil The paste can be dried and pressed into pellets with higher energy content than pellets of wood chips

Another by-product is distilled water produced from the oxygen which binds hydrogen The rest consists of chlorides crystal minerals which can be used in other industrial processes as input material

INVESTMENTS YIELD PER HECTARE FOR ENERGY CROPS

Investments for KDV compared to FT-plants are estimated to be only a quarter Production costs per liter Diesel fuel are less than half the costs of FT-Diesel from a large plant

RME-diesel uses only rape seeds The KDV-process extracts the hydro carbons from entire plants An interesting choice for annual crops seems to be energy hemp with a yield of dry substance between 10 and 30 tons per hectare that produces between 4 and 10 tons of ready-to-use synthetic Diesel

QUALITY

The quality of the synthetic mineral diesel fuel is better than ordinary fossil diesel with a cetane number of 52 Super diesel has a cetane of 56 and KDV-diesel a cetane above 60 The synthetic diesel fuel has an almost unlimited durability and will not cause any engine problems from viscous organic substances as may be the cause with RME

Under tax considerations the KDV-diesel is a bio diesel and receives tax benefits in many countries

MATERIAL BALANCE Tons per year Input Output Remarks

Biomass example forest residues Residues as dry substance 10000Catalyst additives 200Diesel fuel 3400 Density 085 kglProcess energy (gaseous) 900Process energy losses 700SteamCO2 2400Coal substance 2200Waste incl used additives 600

Total balance 10200 10200

Explanations CO2 is bound in the diesel fuel Steam is distilled to water The carbon paste can be dried and pressed into pellets

3WORLD BIOENERGY 06

CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED PRODUCTION

In future it will become important to figure out investments both in money and energy terms EROEI (Energy returned on energy invested) is an entity that is more and more considered in the production of crude oil Until 1950 EROEI was 501 and has today decreased to 101 or even 31 according to some sources (5)

If you look at an investment only in money terms you will find that a large production plant has a low price per unit (liter Diesel fuel) But in order to feed this plant with input material you will need more and longer transportation which will use up a considerable amount of the fuel you produce The distribution of the final product from a few large production facilities will also require longer trans-portation distances (and thus even more fuel)

Decentralized production and consumption in the vicinity require a minimum of transportation and are more energy efficient (and less polluting)

The definition of Sustainability as economically environmentally and socially sustainable would suggest that a decentralized production is more beneficial from a holistic point of view

Another advantage with decentralized production of diesel fuel with the KDV is about the choice of input material Additionally to biomass from for-ests and energy crops the KDV can process house-hold waste all kinds of waste products containing hydro carbons like used motor oil vegetable oil plastics used tires lignite and sludge

So for each region of about 50 km in diameter you can determine the kind of input material that exists in abundance or that you need to get rid of in a controlled way

ADVANTAGES WITH THE ALPHAKAT PROCESS

One of the main advantages with decentralized production of synthetic bio diesel is the continued use of existing diesel motors and equipment You donrsquot have to develop a new fuel and at the same time replace the vehicles with new ones to adjust to the new fuel There will be time to do so in a planned and controlled way

In terms of energy safety this could guarantee an orderly way of basic community and society serv-ices as police fire brigades social services supply of food and so on even in case of interruptions in fossil oil supply

This would also mean a lot to rural areas which could become self-reliant with fuel in order to be able to work the fields and forests In economic terms diesel production plants could be considered as a motor for local development and economic growth

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

With a relatively low temperature the KDV tech-nology is a closed process with no emissions This is valid for all kinds of input material even waste from PVC-plastics are bound in crystal form De-pending on local circumstances a CHP (Combined Heat and Power station) is required mainly for drying and processing the input material deliver-ing the process heat and the electric power to be independent from the grid The CHP will emit some CO2 depending on the heating material The CO2 from the diesel fuel is released first when burnt up in a diesel motor

When using household waste as input material in a KDV-plant it is important to know that no gases as furan and dioxin are produced which is the case in waste incineration plants with high temperatures Also the amount of waste to be deposited is sub-stantially lower and less toxic than the ashes from incineration plants

FROM LAB TESTS TO PILOT PLANTS AND FULL SCALE PLANTS

It has taken the inventor Dr Christian Koch more than 30 years of research to complete the KDV-process Since 2004 there is a full scale facility in Mexico Several new plants are under construc-tion right now and two full scale plants will start production in June 2006

CONCLUSIONS

When facing a situation with decreasing liquid fos-sil fuels many countries will try to make up for the supply gap with alternative fuels As the Hirsch re-port states it is never too early to start and industry and society will need at least 30 years for a change

4 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

After evaluating various techniques I am convinced that the KDV-process right now is the most effec-tive method to produce ready-to-use diesel fuel from biomass or any other input material contain-ing hydro carbons In fact I am so convinced that AVBP became the commercial representative for Sweden and Finland

REFERENCES

sup1 HINTON S (2006) POWERDOWN White Paper AVBP 2006 httpwwwavbpnet

sup2 FRAMTIDSBRAumlNSLEN AB SUNDSVALL DEMONSTRATION PLANT En foumlrstudie av en pilotanlaumlggning foumlr tillverkning av Fischer-Tropsch diesel fraringn biomassa httpwwwframtidsbrans-lensebilderforstudiepdf

sup3 HIRSCH Robert L SAIC PEAKING OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION IMPACTS MITIGATION amp RISK MANAGEMENT httpwwwprojectcensoredorgnewsflashThe_Hirsch_Report_Proj_Censpdf

4 ASPO Association for the Study of Peak Oil httpwwwpeakoilnet

5 VISALLI D (2006) Getting a decent return on your energy investment In Partnership for a Sustainable Method Published in Energy Bul-letin 2006-04-13 httpwwwenergybulletinnet14745html

2 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

This presentation describes a new and innovative process to produce Diesel fuel without pressurizing and at a maximum of 350ordm Celsius using a catalyst

INTERNATIONAL

Especially interesting in this context is the ldquoHirsch reportrdquo that was published in February 2005 in the USsup3 Hirsch is pointing out the importance of starting as early as possible before the global peak of oil production is reached His conclusion is that three decades before the peak would be a minimum of time to adjust society to a decreasing supply of oil And there are concerns from ASPO (4) (Association for the Study of Peak Oil) that the peak of oil production will occur in the next 10 years

THE KDV-METHOD

Dried substance of input material from any biomass (forest residues energy crops etc) is fed into an oil suspension which is preheated to about 350ordm C The oil is circulated without pressurizing through the plant The hydrocarbons of the input material are split under the impact of a catalytic converter inside a fluidity rotation unit The Diesel steam is separated in a distillation column and led to a storage tank

Remaining substances are a carbonate paste con-sisting of pure carbon residues and minimal parts of oil The paste can be dried and pressed into pellets with higher energy content than pellets of wood chips

Another by-product is distilled water produced from the oxygen which binds hydrogen The rest consists of chlorides crystal minerals which can be used in other industrial processes as input material

INVESTMENTS YIELD PER HECTARE FOR ENERGY CROPS

Investments for KDV compared to FT-plants are estimated to be only a quarter Production costs per liter Diesel fuel are less than half the costs of FT-Diesel from a large plant

RME-diesel uses only rape seeds The KDV-process extracts the hydro carbons from entire plants An interesting choice for annual crops seems to be energy hemp with a yield of dry substance between 10 and 30 tons per hectare that produces between 4 and 10 tons of ready-to-use synthetic Diesel

QUALITY

The quality of the synthetic mineral diesel fuel is better than ordinary fossil diesel with a cetane number of 52 Super diesel has a cetane of 56 and KDV-diesel a cetane above 60 The synthetic diesel fuel has an almost unlimited durability and will not cause any engine problems from viscous organic substances as may be the cause with RME

Under tax considerations the KDV-diesel is a bio diesel and receives tax benefits in many countries

MATERIAL BALANCE Tons per year Input Output Remarks

Biomass example forest residues Residues as dry substance 10000Catalyst additives 200Diesel fuel 3400 Density 085 kglProcess energy (gaseous) 900Process energy losses 700SteamCO2 2400Coal substance 2200Waste incl used additives 600

Total balance 10200 10200

Explanations CO2 is bound in the diesel fuel Steam is distilled to water The carbon paste can be dried and pressed into pellets

3WORLD BIOENERGY 06

CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED PRODUCTION

In future it will become important to figure out investments both in money and energy terms EROEI (Energy returned on energy invested) is an entity that is more and more considered in the production of crude oil Until 1950 EROEI was 501 and has today decreased to 101 or even 31 according to some sources (5)

If you look at an investment only in money terms you will find that a large production plant has a low price per unit (liter Diesel fuel) But in order to feed this plant with input material you will need more and longer transportation which will use up a considerable amount of the fuel you produce The distribution of the final product from a few large production facilities will also require longer trans-portation distances (and thus even more fuel)

Decentralized production and consumption in the vicinity require a minimum of transportation and are more energy efficient (and less polluting)

The definition of Sustainability as economically environmentally and socially sustainable would suggest that a decentralized production is more beneficial from a holistic point of view

Another advantage with decentralized production of diesel fuel with the KDV is about the choice of input material Additionally to biomass from for-ests and energy crops the KDV can process house-hold waste all kinds of waste products containing hydro carbons like used motor oil vegetable oil plastics used tires lignite and sludge

So for each region of about 50 km in diameter you can determine the kind of input material that exists in abundance or that you need to get rid of in a controlled way

ADVANTAGES WITH THE ALPHAKAT PROCESS

One of the main advantages with decentralized production of synthetic bio diesel is the continued use of existing diesel motors and equipment You donrsquot have to develop a new fuel and at the same time replace the vehicles with new ones to adjust to the new fuel There will be time to do so in a planned and controlled way

In terms of energy safety this could guarantee an orderly way of basic community and society serv-ices as police fire brigades social services supply of food and so on even in case of interruptions in fossil oil supply

This would also mean a lot to rural areas which could become self-reliant with fuel in order to be able to work the fields and forests In economic terms diesel production plants could be considered as a motor for local development and economic growth

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

With a relatively low temperature the KDV tech-nology is a closed process with no emissions This is valid for all kinds of input material even waste from PVC-plastics are bound in crystal form De-pending on local circumstances a CHP (Combined Heat and Power station) is required mainly for drying and processing the input material deliver-ing the process heat and the electric power to be independent from the grid The CHP will emit some CO2 depending on the heating material The CO2 from the diesel fuel is released first when burnt up in a diesel motor

When using household waste as input material in a KDV-plant it is important to know that no gases as furan and dioxin are produced which is the case in waste incineration plants with high temperatures Also the amount of waste to be deposited is sub-stantially lower and less toxic than the ashes from incineration plants

FROM LAB TESTS TO PILOT PLANTS AND FULL SCALE PLANTS

It has taken the inventor Dr Christian Koch more than 30 years of research to complete the KDV-process Since 2004 there is a full scale facility in Mexico Several new plants are under construc-tion right now and two full scale plants will start production in June 2006

CONCLUSIONS

When facing a situation with decreasing liquid fos-sil fuels many countries will try to make up for the supply gap with alternative fuels As the Hirsch re-port states it is never too early to start and industry and society will need at least 30 years for a change

4 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

After evaluating various techniques I am convinced that the KDV-process right now is the most effec-tive method to produce ready-to-use diesel fuel from biomass or any other input material contain-ing hydro carbons In fact I am so convinced that AVBP became the commercial representative for Sweden and Finland

REFERENCES

sup1 HINTON S (2006) POWERDOWN White Paper AVBP 2006 httpwwwavbpnet

sup2 FRAMTIDSBRAumlNSLEN AB SUNDSVALL DEMONSTRATION PLANT En foumlrstudie av en pilotanlaumlggning foumlr tillverkning av Fischer-Tropsch diesel fraringn biomassa httpwwwframtidsbrans-lensebilderforstudiepdf

sup3 HIRSCH Robert L SAIC PEAKING OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION IMPACTS MITIGATION amp RISK MANAGEMENT httpwwwprojectcensoredorgnewsflashThe_Hirsch_Report_Proj_Censpdf

4 ASPO Association for the Study of Peak Oil httpwwwpeakoilnet

5 VISALLI D (2006) Getting a decent return on your energy investment In Partnership for a Sustainable Method Published in Energy Bul-letin 2006-04-13 httpwwwenergybulletinnet14745html

3WORLD BIOENERGY 06

CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED PRODUCTION

In future it will become important to figure out investments both in money and energy terms EROEI (Energy returned on energy invested) is an entity that is more and more considered in the production of crude oil Until 1950 EROEI was 501 and has today decreased to 101 or even 31 according to some sources (5)

If you look at an investment only in money terms you will find that a large production plant has a low price per unit (liter Diesel fuel) But in order to feed this plant with input material you will need more and longer transportation which will use up a considerable amount of the fuel you produce The distribution of the final product from a few large production facilities will also require longer trans-portation distances (and thus even more fuel)

Decentralized production and consumption in the vicinity require a minimum of transportation and are more energy efficient (and less polluting)

The definition of Sustainability as economically environmentally and socially sustainable would suggest that a decentralized production is more beneficial from a holistic point of view

Another advantage with decentralized production of diesel fuel with the KDV is about the choice of input material Additionally to biomass from for-ests and energy crops the KDV can process house-hold waste all kinds of waste products containing hydro carbons like used motor oil vegetable oil plastics used tires lignite and sludge

So for each region of about 50 km in diameter you can determine the kind of input material that exists in abundance or that you need to get rid of in a controlled way

ADVANTAGES WITH THE ALPHAKAT PROCESS

One of the main advantages with decentralized production of synthetic bio diesel is the continued use of existing diesel motors and equipment You donrsquot have to develop a new fuel and at the same time replace the vehicles with new ones to adjust to the new fuel There will be time to do so in a planned and controlled way

In terms of energy safety this could guarantee an orderly way of basic community and society serv-ices as police fire brigades social services supply of food and so on even in case of interruptions in fossil oil supply

This would also mean a lot to rural areas which could become self-reliant with fuel in order to be able to work the fields and forests In economic terms diesel production plants could be considered as a motor for local development and economic growth

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

With a relatively low temperature the KDV tech-nology is a closed process with no emissions This is valid for all kinds of input material even waste from PVC-plastics are bound in crystal form De-pending on local circumstances a CHP (Combined Heat and Power station) is required mainly for drying and processing the input material deliver-ing the process heat and the electric power to be independent from the grid The CHP will emit some CO2 depending on the heating material The CO2 from the diesel fuel is released first when burnt up in a diesel motor

When using household waste as input material in a KDV-plant it is important to know that no gases as furan and dioxin are produced which is the case in waste incineration plants with high temperatures Also the amount of waste to be deposited is sub-stantially lower and less toxic than the ashes from incineration plants

FROM LAB TESTS TO PILOT PLANTS AND FULL SCALE PLANTS

It has taken the inventor Dr Christian Koch more than 30 years of research to complete the KDV-process Since 2004 there is a full scale facility in Mexico Several new plants are under construc-tion right now and two full scale plants will start production in June 2006

CONCLUSIONS

When facing a situation with decreasing liquid fos-sil fuels many countries will try to make up for the supply gap with alternative fuels As the Hirsch re-port states it is never too early to start and industry and society will need at least 30 years for a change

4 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

After evaluating various techniques I am convinced that the KDV-process right now is the most effec-tive method to produce ready-to-use diesel fuel from biomass or any other input material contain-ing hydro carbons In fact I am so convinced that AVBP became the commercial representative for Sweden and Finland

REFERENCES

sup1 HINTON S (2006) POWERDOWN White Paper AVBP 2006 httpwwwavbpnet

sup2 FRAMTIDSBRAumlNSLEN AB SUNDSVALL DEMONSTRATION PLANT En foumlrstudie av en pilotanlaumlggning foumlr tillverkning av Fischer-Tropsch diesel fraringn biomassa httpwwwframtidsbrans-lensebilderforstudiepdf

sup3 HIRSCH Robert L SAIC PEAKING OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION IMPACTS MITIGATION amp RISK MANAGEMENT httpwwwprojectcensoredorgnewsflashThe_Hirsch_Report_Proj_Censpdf

4 ASPO Association for the Study of Peak Oil httpwwwpeakoilnet

5 VISALLI D (2006) Getting a decent return on your energy investment In Partnership for a Sustainable Method Published in Energy Bul-letin 2006-04-13 httpwwwenergybulletinnet14745html

4 WORLDBIOENERGY 06

After evaluating various techniques I am convinced that the KDV-process right now is the most effec-tive method to produce ready-to-use diesel fuel from biomass or any other input material contain-ing hydro carbons In fact I am so convinced that AVBP became the commercial representative for Sweden and Finland

REFERENCES

sup1 HINTON S (2006) POWERDOWN White Paper AVBP 2006 httpwwwavbpnet

sup2 FRAMTIDSBRAumlNSLEN AB SUNDSVALL DEMONSTRATION PLANT En foumlrstudie av en pilotanlaumlggning foumlr tillverkning av Fischer-Tropsch diesel fraringn biomassa httpwwwframtidsbrans-lensebilderforstudiepdf

sup3 HIRSCH Robert L SAIC PEAKING OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION IMPACTS MITIGATION amp RISK MANAGEMENT httpwwwprojectcensoredorgnewsflashThe_Hirsch_Report_Proj_Censpdf

4 ASPO Association for the Study of Peak Oil httpwwwpeakoilnet

5 VISALLI D (2006) Getting a decent return on your energy investment In Partnership for a Sustainable Method Published in Energy Bul-letin 2006-04-13 httpwwwenergybulletinnet14745html

5WORLD BIOENERGY 06

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7WORLD BIOENERGY 06