The present invention provides a process for the manufacture of a synthetic fuel comprising gasifying a carbonaceous feedstock comprising waste materials and/or biomass to generate a raw synthesis gas; supplying the raw synthesis gas to a primary clean-up zone to wash particulates and ammonia or HCl out of the raw synthesis gas; contacting the synthesis gas in a secondary clean-up zone with a physical solvent for sulphurous materials; contacting the desulphurised raw synthesis gas in a tertiary clean-up zone with a physical solvent for CO.sub.2 effective to absorb CO.sub.2; removing at least part of the absorbed CO.sub.2 in a solvent regeneration stage to recover CO.sub.2 in a form sufficiently pure for sequestration or other use; and supplying the clean synthesis gas to a further reaction train to generate a synthetic fuel.

An automatic control system (ACS) for capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) of one or more gases from one or more plants may receive, from one or more sensors, one or more parameters of at least one gas of one or more gases through a system gas flow inlet channel, a first volumetric flow rate of the one or more gases through a plug flow reactor (PFR), a second volumetric flow rate of the one or more gases through a bypass channel that bypasses the PFR, the CO.sub.2 flowing into the CO.sub.2 capture unit, or the syngas flowing into the CO.sub.2 capture unit. The ACS may also command one or more flow controllers to modulate at least one of the first volumetric flow rate of the one or more gases through PFR or the second volumetric flow rate of the one or more gases through the bypass channel based on the one or more parameters.

Methods and systems for processing construction and demolition (C&D) materials to produce a product gas stream and/or electricity are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method comprises pre-processing C&D materials to produce a C&D feed, and processing the C&D feed to produce syngas. The C&D feed can comprise untreated wood, treated wood, paper and cardboard, yard waste, plastic, rubber, and/or foam. Processing the C&D feed can comprise gasifying the C&D feed, steam, and oxygen in a gasifier at a temperature of no more than 950° C. and/or a pressure of no more than 200 psi to produce syngas.

A solar thermochemical processing system is disclosed. The system includes a first unit operation for receiving concentrated solar energy. Heat from the solar energy is used to drive the first unit operation. The first unit operation also receives a first set of reactants and produces a first set of products. A second unit operation receives the first set of products from the first unit operation and produces a second set of products. A third unit operation receives heat from the second unit operation to produce a portion of the first set of reactants.

A solar thermochemical processing system is disclosed. The system includes a first unit operation for receiving concentrated solar energy. Heat from the solar energy is used to drive the first unit operation. The first unit operation also receives a first set of reactants and produces a first set of products. A second unit operation receives the first set of products from the first unit operation and produces a second set of products. A third unit operation receives heat from the second unit operation to produce a portion of the first set of reactants.

A fuel cell system for removing carbon dioxide from anode exhaust gas includes: a fuel cell having an anode configured to output an anode exhaust gas comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water; an anode gas oxidizer; and an absorption system configured to receive the anode exhaust gas, the absorption system including: an absorber column configured to absorb the carbon dioxide from the anode exhaust gas in a solvent and to output a resultant gas comprising hydrogen and a hydrocarbon that is at least partially recycled to the anode; and a stripper column configured to regenerate the solvent and to output a carbon dioxide-rich stream. The anode gas oxidizer is configured to receive and oxidize an anode gas oxidizer input stream and at least a portion of the carbon dioxide-rich stream. The anode gas oxidizer input stream comprises a portion of the anode exhaust gas.

Integrated refinery processes and systems for generating hydrogen by direct decomposition of hydrocarbons. The integrated processes and systems can be used to capture carbon and sulfur in solid form, reducing carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide emissions. The processes include reacting sour gas with a metal-based sorbent in a reactor to produce sulfur-bearing solids and water, and to partially reform hydrocarbons in the sour gas to produce hydrogen-rich syngas; and cracking remaining hydrocarbons thermally with or without the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrogen and solid carbon.

A catalytic method for producing gaseous products from a fuel and a gaseous reagent having the steps of: providing a catalyst and the fuel to a reactor vessel such that the catalyst and the fuel are in fluid communication with each other within the reactor vessel, where the catalyst is a mixture of reduced metal oxides; and contacting the fuel and catalyst with the gaseous reagent within the reactor vessel at a reaction temperature to produce gaseous products, where the gaseous reagent contains at least CO.sub.2 or H.sub.2O, where the fuel comprises a carbonaceous source, and wherein the gaseous products are CO or syngas.

The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for producing an olefin-containing feed stream for a steam reforming plant. According to certain embodiments of the invention, the olefin-containing hydrocarbon starting material is for this purpose vaporized and catalytically hydrogenated. The hydrogenation product stream obtained is separated into a gaseous reforming feed stream, which is fed to a steam reforming plant, and a gaseous recycle stream. As a result of the cooling according to the invention of the gaseous recycle stream down to at least partial condensation thereof and the separate recirculation of the gaseous partial recycle stream and of the liquid partial recycle stream, the procurement of a large and complicated circulation compressor is avoided and electric energy for operating this compressor is saved.

A process for producing acetic acid includes: (a) reacting, via a catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) reaction, a CPO reactant mixture in a CPO reactor to produce a hydrogen-lean syngas; wherein the hydrocarbons include equal to or greater than about 3 mol % C2+ alkanes; wherein the hydrogen-lean syngas includes hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and unreacted hydrocarbons; and wherein the hydrogen-lean syngas is characterized by a hydrogen to carbon monoxide (H2/CO) molar ratio of from about 0.7 to about 1.3. Also included is (b) feeding at least a portion of the hydrogen-lean syngas and dimethyl ether (DME) to a DME carbonylation unit to produce methyl acetate and a hydrogen-enriched syngas characterized by a H2/CO molar ratio of from about 1.8 to about 2.2; and (c) feeding at least a portion of the methyl acetate and water to a methyl acetate hydrolysis reaction zone to produce acetic acid and a methanol stream.