Fischer-Tropsch pilot to produce 2th generation biofuel

It is on the Bure-Saudron site, located on a territory located on the border of the departments of Haute-Marne and Meuse, that this BtL pilot unit "Biomass to Liquid" will be installed, the first of its kind in France. . This will make it possible to experiment with a complete biofuel production sector, from the collection and conditioning of biomass to fuel synthesis via the Fischer-Tropsch process, including the gasification stage. Note that this industrial demonstrator will use as raw material local forestry and agricultural resources estimated at 75.000 tonnes per year of dry matter. The expected production is of the order of 23.000 tonnes per year of biofuel (diesel, kerosene, naphtha).

At present, a major limitation of the BtL sector lies in its mass yields (quantity of material at the inlet / quantity of fuel at the outlet) which one seeks to improve. The Bure Saudron demonstrator will therefore experiment with an original solution to increase the efficiency of the process. In fact, the hydrogen / carbon monoxide ratio generated during the fuel synthesis step will be greatly improved by the external supply of hydrogen. An innovation that will constitute a world first for a demonstrator on a pre-industrial scale.

The first phase of this BtL demonstrator construction project that the CEA and its industrial partners have decided to launch corresponds to detailed design studies and is the subject of a contract with the CNIM group, as master of works, in partnership with the Air Liquide group, the Choren company, and the SNC Lavalin, Foster-Wheeler France and MSW Energies companies. As for the actual launch of the construction of this pre-industrial installation, this will take place in view of the results of this study which should be available in mid-2011.

Source: BE France