A system for producing high purity carbon monoxide and hydrogen as well as activated carbon includes a pyrolysis reactor, a gasifier, a combustion turbine, a boiler, a steam turbine, a combined cycle unit and an electrolysis unit. Liquid fuel from the pyrolysis reactor is provided to the combustion turbine. Liquid and gaseous fuels are provided to the boiler. Compressed oxygen from the electrolysis unit is provided to the combustion turbine. Electric power from the combustion turbine and steam turbine are provided to the electrolysis unit. The gasifier includes a preheat region, a gasification region, and a cooling region. CO.sub.2 and O.sub.2 are injected into the gasifier at multiple injection levels to create an isothermal gasification region to produce CO. The CO.sub.2 and O.sub.2 are preheated in a heat exchanger using the CO exiting from the gasifier prior to injection.

Systems and methods are provided for integration of electrolysis with biomass gasification to generate synthesis gas that can be used for production of renewable fuels and/or other hydrocarbonaceous compounds. The hydrocarbonaceous compounds can include compounds formed by chemical synthesis, such as alkanes formed by a Fischer-Tropsch process or methanol formed by a methanol synthesis process; or the hydrocarbonaceous compounds can include compounds formed by fermentation, such as alcohols formed by micro-organisms that use the synthesis gas as an input feed.

Fuel production system includes: synthesis gas generation unit configured to generate synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide from carbon-containing raw material; fuel production unit configured to produce fuel from synthesis gas generated; water electrolyzer configured to electrolyze water to generate water-electrolyzed hydrogen; hydrogen supply unit configured to supply water-electrolyzed hydrogen generated to synthesis gas generation unit; and controller. The controller is configured to perform: calculating input energy based on first energy possessed by raw material, second energy consumed by water electrolyzer, third energy consumed by synthesis gas generation unit, and fourth energy consumed by fuel production unit; calculating recovered energy based on fifth energy possessed by fuel produced; and determining supply amount of water-electrolyzed hydrogen to be supplied based on input energy and recovered energy calculated.

A process for synthesising hydrocarbons is described comprising the steps of (a) making a synthesis gas comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from a feedstock in a synthesis gas generation unit, (b) removing carbon dioxide to produce a carbon dioxide stream and purified synthesis gas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide for synthesis gas in a Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis unit wherein (i) at least a portion of the FT water stream is fed to an electrolysis unit to provide an oxygen stream, which is fed to the synthesis gas generation unit. Carbon dioxide stream recovered from the carbon dioxide removal unit and a portion of the hydrogen stream produced by the electrolysis unit are fed to a reverse water-gas shift unit to produce a carbon monoxide stream, with carbon monoxide stream from the reverse water-gas shift unit fed to the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis unit.

A process for preparing synthetic hydrocarbons from a biomass feedstock is provided. The process involves electrolyzing water in an electrolyzer to produce oxygen and hydrogen, using the generated oxygen to gasify a biomass feedstock under partial oxidation reaction conditions to generate a hydrogen lean syngas, adding at least a portion of the generated hydrogen to the hydrogen lean syngas to formulate hydrogen rich syngas, which is reacted a Fischer Tropsch (FT) reactor to produce the synthetic hydrocarbons and water. At least a portion of the water produced in the FT reaction is recycled for use in the electrolysis step, and optionally using heat generated from the FT reaction to dry the biomass feedstock.

An integrated biomass conversion system and a method of starting and shutting down the system are disclosed. The integrated biomass conversion system comprises a syngas generator, such as a gasifier, a cleanup engine and a syngas utilization system, which could be a power producing engine or a chemical reactor for chemical or fuel synthesis. The cleanup engine operates rich and at high temperatures so that the tars exhausted by the syngas generators are destroyed and not allowed to foul other components. An orderly sequence to start and shut down the integrated biomass conversion system is disclosed.

The present invention includes a method for converting renewable energy source electricity and a hydrocarbon feedstock into a liquid fuel by providing a source of renewable electrical energy in communication with a synthesis gas generation unit and an air separation unit. Oxygen from the air separation unit and a hydrocarbon feedstock is provided to the synthesis gas generation unit, thereby causing partial oxidation reactions in the synthesis gas generation unit in a process that converts the hydrocarbon feedstock into synthesis gas. The synthesis gas is then converted into a liquid fuel.

Aspects of the invention relate to improvements in the flexibility with which oxygen and hydrogen, for example from electrolysis, may be supplied to processes having both gasification and methanation steps, as well as improvements in how such processes may be operated in response to variations in carbonaceous feeds. Offsets, between the ideal quantity of hydrogen and the quantity available from a given source may be compensated for by adjusting one or more operations of the process, and in particular such operation(s) that ultimately impact the quantity of CO and/or CO.sub.2 available downstream of the gasifier for conversion to methane in an RNG product stream.

Aspects of the invention relate to improvements in the flexibility with which oxygen and hydrogen, for example from electrolysis, may be supplied to processes having both gasification and methanation steps, as well as improvements in how such processes may be operated in response to variations in carbonaceous feeds. Offsets, between the ideal quantity of hydrogen and the quantity available from a given source may be compensated for by adjusting one or more operations of the process, and in particular such operation(s) that ultimately impact the quantity of CO and/or CO.sub.2 available downstream of the gasifier for conversion to methane in an RNG product stream.

The present invention includes a method for converting renewable energy source electricity and a hydrocarbon feedstock into a liquid fuel by providing a source of renewable electrical energy in communication with a synthesis gas generation unit and an air separation unit. Oxygen from the air separation unit and a hydrocarbon feedstock is provided to the synthesis gas generation unit, thereby causing partial oxidation reactions in the synthesis gas generation unit in a process that converts the hydrocarbon feedstock into synthesis gas. The synthesis gas is then converted into a liquid fuel.