Carbon-containing materials, such as biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) or coal are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels, carboxylic acids and equivalents thereof (e.g., esters and salts). For example, systems are described that can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy materials, to produce ethanol, butanol or organic acids (e.g., acetic or lactic acid), salts of organic acids or mixtures thereof. If desired, organic acids can be converted into alcohols, such as by first converting the acid, salt or mixtures of the acid and its salt to an ester, and then hydrogenating the formed ester. Acetogens or homoacetogens which are capable of utilizing a syngas from a thermochemical conversion of coal or biomass can be utilized to produce the desired product.

Processes, systems, and methods for producing combustible gas from wet biomass are provided. In one aspect, for example, a process for generating a combustible gas from a wet biomass in a closed system is provided. Such a process may include growing a wet biomass in a growth chamber, moving at least a portion of the wet biomass to a reactor, heating the portion of the wet biomass under high pressure in the reactor to gasify the wet biomass into a total gas component, separating the gasified component into a liquid component, a non-combustible gas component, and a combustible gas component, and introducing the liquid component and non-combustible gas component containing carbon dioxide into the growth chamber to stimulate new wet biomass growth.

Carbon-containing materials, such as biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) or coal are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels, carboxylic acids and equivalents thereof (e.g., esters and salts). For example, systems are described that can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy materials, to produce ethanol, butanol or organic acids (e.g., acetic or lactic acid), salts of organic acids or mixtures thereof. If desired, organic acids can be converted into alcohols, such as by first converting the acid, salt or mixtures of the acid and its salt to an ester, and then hydrogenating the formed ester. Acetogens or homoacetogens which are capable of utilizing a syngas from a thermochemical conversion of coal or biomass can be utilized to produce the desired product.

A combined hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and catalytic hydrothermal gasification (CHG) system and process are described that convert various biomass-containing sources into separable bio-oils and aqueous effluents that contain residual organics. Bio-oils may be converted to useful bio-based fuels and other chemical feedstocks. Residual organics in HTL aqueous effluents may be gasified and converted into medium-BTU product gases and directly used for process heating or to provide energy.

A method is provided to transform biomass. Non-food biomass is preprocessed. Then, fermentation is processed to generate ethanol. Ethanol is dehydrated through a catalyst to generate ethylene. After the dehydration, oligomerization is processed with a catalyst to transform ethylene into olefins having 620 carbon atoms (C.sub.6C.sub.20). The olefins are hydrotreated into alkanes. Thus, C.sub.6C.sub.20 hydrocarbons having long carbon chains are formed. The hydrocarbons having 610 carbon atoms can be used as gasoline; those having 816 carbon atoms, jet fuel; and those having 1620 carbon atoms, diesel. On generating ethanol, byproducts of lignin may be generated. The byproducts can be processed through depolymerization/deoxygenation to generate aromatic hydrocarbons or can be gasified to generate methanol or dimethyl ether. By further processing dehydration, aromatic hydrocarbons are generated to be mixed into gasoline, jet fuel or diesel. Or, the lignin byproducts are gasified to generate syngas.

Carbon-containing materials, such as biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) or coal are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels, carboxylic acids and equivalents thereof (e.g., esters and salts). For example, systems are described that can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy materials, to produce ethanol, butanol or organic acids (e.g., acetic or lactic acid), salts of organic acids or mixtures thereof. If desired, organic acids can be converted into alcohols, such as by first converting the acid, salt or mixtures of the acid and its salt to an ester, and then hydrogenating the formed ester. Acetogens or homoacetogens which are capable of utilizing a syngas from a thermochemical conversion of coal or biomass can be utilized to produce the desired product.

The present invention provides a process for producing one or more products for use as a transportation or heating fuel. In various embodiments the process comprises treating a cellulosic feedstock, in one or more processing steps that release extractives from the feedstock. A solids-liquid separation is subsequently conducted on the process stream comprising the extractives and solids. An aqueous stream comprising one or more of the extractives may be fed to an anaerobic digester to produce crude biogas from which one or more impurities may optionally be removed. In various embodiments the process further comprises providing a solids stream to a thermal process. A product produced or derived from the thermal process may displace a product made from fossil fuel. One or more products obtained or derived from at least one of the foregoing process steps are provided for use as a transportation or heating fuel. In various embodiments the process enables advantaged fuel credit generation.

In one embodiment, a method includes gasifying a fuel source using a first oxygen stream supplied from an air separation unit (ASU), discharging a gasifier blowdown from a gasification and scrubbing system configured to gasify the fuel source, generating a grey water from the gasifier blowdown, and biologically treating the grey water in a reactor using a second oxygen stream supplied by the ASU.

Provided are a method for producing a purified gas, which, when a valuable material is generated from a waste-derived raw material gas, can efficiently remove a phase transitioning impurity contained in the raw material gas, a method for producing a valuable material, a gas purification apparatus, and an apparatus for producing a valuable material. A method for producing a purified gas, comprising removing an impurity in a waste-derived raw material gas, the method comprising: a solid-phased impurity removing step S11 of passing the raw material gas through a phase transitioning impurity removing unit to remove a solid-phased phase transitioning impurity in the raw material gas; and an impurity removing step S12 of passing the raw material gas after the solid-phased impurity removing step through a pressure swing adsorption apparatus combined with a vacuum pump to remove an impurity in the raw material gas.

Processes, systems, and methods for producing combustible gas from wet biomass are provided. In one aspect, for example, a process for generating a combustible gas from a wet biomass in a closed system is provided. Such a process may include growing a wet biomass in a growth chamber, moving at least a portion of the wet biomass to a reactor, heating the portion of the wet biomass under high pressure in the reactor to gasify the wet biomass into a total gas component, separating the gasified component into a liquid component, a non-combustible gas component, and a combustible gas component, and introducing the liquid component and non-combustible gas component containing carbon dioxide into the growth chamber to stimulate new wet biomass growth.