Pyrolysis of solid biomass in the production of biofuels

Abstract

The invention relates to the production of a biofuel from a feedstock that includes a solid biomass material such as lemna. A hydrocarbon feedstock is fed into the coking process and reaction products generated from the thermal process are collected. The invention further relates to the production of a coke product having an isotropic structure.

1 . A process for production of biofuels by co-processing of biomass in a refinery thermal processing unit, comprising the steps of:
 feeding a feed material to a thermal processing unit wherein the feed material comprises a mixture of hydrocarbons and a solid biomass material;   thermally processing the feed material; and   collecting reaction products generated from the thermal processing of the feed material.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is derived from a plant source, an animal source or an aquatic source. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 2 , wherein the aquatic source is an aquatic plant. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 3 , wherein the aquatic plant is lemna or derived as a solid residual from lemna following protein extraction. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbons in the feed are petroleum residuals and distillates. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 10-20 wt %. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 40-50 wt %. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the solid biomass material is present at a concentration of 0.1-60 wt %. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal processing unit is a delayed coker. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the reaction products include carbon dioxide, ammonia and acetic acid. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the lemna is preprocessed to remove protein prior to being introduced in the feed. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the feed material is fed into a coker fractionator. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the feed material is fed directly to the coke drum. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the feed material is fed directly to a heater inlet. 
     
     
         15 . The process of claim wherein the feed material is heated prior to being added to the thermal processing unit. 
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 1  in which the thermal process is a delayed coking process. 
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 1  in which the thermal process is a fluidized bed coking process. 
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 14  in which the coking process is a delayed coking process in which the feed stream is heated to a temperature of 460 to 530° C. at a pressure of 300 to 4000 kPa after which the heated stream is discharged into a delayed coker drum at a pressure of 65 to 1100 kPa and a temperature of 400 to 475° C. 
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 15  in which the coking process is a fluidized bed coking process in which the feed stream is discharged into a fluidized bed coking reactor at a pressure from atmospheric to 400 kPa and a temperature of 480 to 565° C. 
     
     
         18 . A process for producing isotropic coke, comprising the steps of:
 a) combining a feed material comprising a mixture of hydrocarbons and a solid biomass material, and   (b) subjecting the combined material to a thermal process to produce an isotropic coke.   
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 18 , wherein the isotropic coke exhibits low porosity. 
     
     
         20 . The process of  claim 18 , wherein the solid biomass material is present in the feed material at 0.1% to 60% by weight.