Claims
- 1. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material comprising the steps of:
heating the cellulosic material and introducing steam to crack the material at a temperature of between 650 and 900° C. thereby producing a gas stream: cleaning the gas stream to remove fly ash and carbon thereby producing a cleaned gas stream; separating the gases in the cleaned gas stream to remove the carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases therefrom; metering each of the hydrogen and the carbon monoxide in a predetermined ratio into a heated pressure vessel with a catalyst to form a methanol; liquefying the methanol and passing it into a second heated pressure vessel with a catalyst and carbon monoxide to form acetic acid; and liquefying the acetic acid and other material present and removing the acetic acid from the any water, other hydrocarbons and purifying the stream;
- 2. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the predetermined ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide is 2:1.
- 3. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 2 wherein the heating temperature is 675° C.
- 4. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material comprising the further enhancement of;
heating the carbon and fly ash removed from the gasification of the cellulosic material in the presence of steam to produce gases; equalizing the pressure of the gases emerging from the carbon gasification using a pressure equalizer; directing the gases to a molecular sieve to separate the carbon monoxide from the hydrogen so they can be mixed in the correct ratios to form an alcohol in the first pressure.
- 5. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material comprising the further enhancement of;
providing oxygen to both burners which supply indirect heating to the gasifiers using molecular sieves to remove nitrogen.
- 6. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material comprising the further enhancement of:
Utilising the cooled gases comprised of carbon monoxide and hydrogen which are produced in the burners used to indirectly heat the gasifiers to increase the input of gases into the first pressure vessel to make an alcohol.
- 7. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material according to the process steps claimed in claim 1 whereby the gasifiers used are fluid bed retorts.
- 8. A process for producing acetic acid from cellulosic material according to the process steps claimed in claim 1 in which the method of separating gases to remove mixed hydrocarbons from the gases emerging from the cellulose gasifier is a molecular sieve.
- 9. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material comprising the steps of:
heating the cellulosic material and introducing steam to crack the material at a temperature of between 650 and 900° C. thereby producing a gas stream: cleaning the gas stream to remove fly ash and carbon thereby producing a cleaned gas stream; separating the gases in the cleaned gas stream to remove the carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases therefrom; metering each of the hydrogen and the carbon monoxide in a predetermined ratio into a heated pressure vessel with a catalyst to form a liquid hydrocarbon.
- 10. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 9 wherein the liquid hydrocarbon is methanol and the catalyst is copper zinc oxide on an aluminium base.
- 11. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 10 further including the steps introducing a second catalyst to the methanol to produce a second hydrocarbon.
- 12. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 11 wherein the liquid hydrocarbon is formaldehyde and the second catalyst is silver.
- 13. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 12 and further including the steps of the introducing nitrogen, ammonia, water to the formaldehyde to produce urea-formaldehyde.
- 14. A process for producing liquid hydrocarbon from cellulosic material as claimed in claim 11 wherein the second liquid hydrocarbon is acetic acid and the second catalyst is chosen from the group consisting of a combination of rhodium, phosphine and iodine.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
[0001] This patent application relates to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/1187,166 filed on Mar. 6, 2000 entitled Process for Producing Oxygenated C2 Products from Biomass
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60187166 |
Mar 2000 |
US |