Multi-Year Analysis Plan Page 37
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803.2 Sugar Platform Analysis (NREL)
The technical goal of the Sugar Platform is to develop the capability for using lignocellulosic biomass to
produce inexpensive sugar streams that can be used to produce fuels, other chemicals, and materials. The
specific area objectives are listed in Table 6, along with corresponding analysis objectives. The analysis
for the sugar platform R&D provides information to benefits analysis, direction to the program and
engineering knowledge for biorefinery development.
Table 6: Sugar Platform Objectives
Area Objective:
•
Reduce the estimated cost for production of a mixed, dilute sugar stream suitable for
fermentation to ethanol, from 15 cents per pound in 2003 to 10 cents per pound by 2010.
Analysis Objectives:
•
Provide conversion process design and costs for biomass to sugar and to a model product.
•
Justify and guide research within in the sugar platform. Show progress to the R&D targets.
•
Provide design and cost information for sugar production to the biomass community.
Analysis Status
Analysis of several biomass to ethanol processes has taken place. The products of those analyses have
included two design reports that show refined process designs, capital cost and operating cost estimates,
and overall economic analyses. The following process areas were modeled: inside facility feedstock
handling; pretreatment and conditioning; saccharification and fermentation; distillation and product
dehydration; wastewater treatment; lignin combustion for steam and power; and utilities. The process
designs are modeled in the ASPEN Plus material and energy balance system that required development of
thermodynamic parameter estimates for biomass-specific components. The process design and equipment
costing work involved Delta-T Corporation, Reaction Engineering Inc., Merrick, and the Harris Group to
validate the design and assist in estimating capital costs.
NREL has extended the analysis reported in the design reports to include the capability of Monte Carlo
risk assessment, feedstock composition variability and its effect on cost, and the alternative pretreatment
chemistries represented by the Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation
(CAFI). A life cycle assessment of corn stover production, conversion, and ethanol use as a fuel has been
completed. That assessment highlighted the importance of soil sustainability and carbon sequestration in
soil. NREL also developed a cost metric to determine the status of work in the enzyme subcontracts with
Genencor and Novozymes. “State of Technology” cases were developed to report the cost effects of using
experimental data instead of targets as the model’s input parameters.
Technical Barriers
OBP uses technoeconomic analysis to judge the relative cost impacts of addressing technical barriers for a
given technology. Figure 17 is an example of such an analysis done in 2003 for a number of the critical
barriers identified in the emerging sugar platform based on enzymatic hydrolysis technology. In this case,
analysis examined the impact of progress on the following barriers:
•
FY 03 Cost: Represents the plant performance in line with what has been experimentally verified.
The overall cost depends upon the assumed cost of feedstock delivered to the plant. $53 per ton of
corn stover has been used here.
•
Feedstock Interface: Reduce cost of corn stover and wheat straw from $53 to $30 per dry ton.
•
Pretreatment: Increase yields of hemicellulosic sugars from demonstrated level of 60%-70% to
80%
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