CATALYZED STEAM HYDROTHERMAL PROCESS
The catalyzed steam hydrothermal process is a patent pending process that provides significant benefits over hydrothermal carbonization (HTC).
In particular, the catalyzed steam process offers the following benefits:
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Lower water use: Since the process is a steam process the biomass does not need to be immersed in water for the reactions to occur.
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Less waste water to be processed before disposal: Typical HTC processes use 80% water and 20 solids so significant amounts of waste water must be treated and disposed.
- Lower energy use: The major energy cost in HTC is the heating of the process water to the operating temperature. With the catalyzed steam process less water is used so the energy requirements are reduced.
- Higher mass and energy yields: For the catalyzed steam process the biomass conversion to a biofuel occurs in wet chips that are immersed in saturated steam while in the HTC process the conversion occurs while the biomass is immersed in water. Since some of the intermediates are water soluble they are lost to the solution resulting in a lowering of mass yield. The loss of mass results in a lowering of the energy yield.
Thus the catalyzed steam process is more efficient, producing a higher yield of biofuel while reducing operating costs.
