Sustainable Energy Systems Research
Cellulosic Biomass Processing
The CBP Group at CERT are the pre-treatment experts for the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) at Oak Ridge Tenn.
The group is advancing the science of breaking down complex polysaccharides into simple sugars so they can be fermented into ethanol as a non-petroleum transportation fuels.
The group studies the use of non-food feedstocks (poplar wood, switchgrass etc.), materials that currently end up in landfills in amounts of tens of millions of tons annually.
The ultimate goal of the CBP group and BESC is to give birth to a non-food ethanol industry that will be a renewable source of domestic transportation fuel.
Steam Hydrogasification Reaction
This patented process, uses high pressure and heat to break down carbonaceous materials, such as coal or wood waste, into methane. The methane can then be converted to diesel fuel through the well-established Fischer-Tropsch process.
CERT's SHG process configures three thermo-chemical process reactors that can produce nearly pure paraffin hydrocarbon liquids (similar to petroleum-derived diesel fuels) and wax-like compounds (similar to petroleum-derived paraffin jellies). These waxes can be processed to produce even more liquid paraffins. The process is self-sustaining, without the need for additional fuels or energy sources.
A third experimental reactor, a Process Demonstration Unit, is being completed now with the support of the Calfornia Energy Commission. A survey of current technologies by the U.S. Department of Energy found the SHG process the most efficient and the least capital intensive of all of the known processes.