Methanol absorption characteristics for the removal of H2S (hydrogen sulfide), COS (carbonyl sulfide) and CO2 (carbon dioxide) in a pilot-scale biomass-to-liquid process

The BTL (biomass-to-liquid) process is an attractive process that produces liquid biofuels from biomass. The FT (Fisher–Tropsch) process is used to produce synfuels such as diesel and gasoline from gasified biomass. However, the H2S (hydrogen sulfide), COS (carbonyl sulfide) and CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the syngas that are produced from the biomass gasifiers cause a decrease of the conversion efficiency and deactivates the catalyst that is used in the FT process. To remove the acid gases, a pilot-scale methanol absorption tower producing diesel at a rate of 1 BPD (barrel per day) was developed, and the removal characteristics of the acid gases were determined. A total operation time of 500 h was achieved after several campaigns. The average syngas flow rate at the inlet of methanol absorption tower ranged from 300 to 800 L/min. The methanol absorption tower efficiently removed H2S from 30 ppmV to less than 1 ppmV and COS from 2 ppmV to less than 1 ppmV with a removal of CO2 from 20% to 5%. The outlet gas composition adhered to the guidelines for FT reactors. No remaining sulfurous components were found, and the tar component was analyzed in the spent methanol after long-term operations. - Highlights: • The gas cleaning system in a pilot-scale BTL (biomass-to-liquid) process is reported. • Although methanol absorption tower is conventional process, its application to BTL process is attempted. • The methanol absorption tower efficiently removed H2S, COS and CO2 in the syngas. • The sulfurous and tar components in the methanol are analyzed