Techno-economic Analysis of Biogas Conversion to Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels through Production of Lean-Hydrogen Syngas

Abstract

Large-scale biogas plants are a viable source of CH₄ and CO₂ to be converted efficiently into high-value products. Specifically, production of liquid hydrocarbons can enhance the availability of green fuels while achieving significant CO₂ reductions on site. In this study, the production of liquid hydrocarbons is simulated by dry reforming of biogas into lean-hydrogen syngas, further converted in CO hydrogenation and oligomerization reactors. The process was modeled by using CHEMCAD based on published experimental results with the projected feed composition. A high molar feed ratio of CO₂/CH₄ (>1.7) was set for the reformer to minimize steam requirement while avoiding carbon formation and reaching an optimal H₂ to CO molar ratio (0.7). Two options were techno-economically evaluated based on a biogas plant with a capacity of 5000 N m³/h that produces between 13.8 and 15.7 million liters per year of blending stock for transportation fuels. The economics of the process depends mainly on the cost and availability of the biogas. The minimum selling price of the liquid fuels is $1.47/L and $1.37/L for options 1 (once-through conversion of syngas to liquid fuels) and 2 (recycle of tail gas from oligomerization reactor), respectively, and can be significantly reduced in case the biogas throughput is increased to >20 000 N m³/h. Recycling of the tail gas (option 2) yielded higher productivity, resulting in higher carbon yield (77.9% on the basis of methane) and energy efficiency (67.1%). The economic viability of the process can be improved by implementing CO₂ tax or other incentives to reduce capital investment. It provides a potential route for efficient conversion of biogas into liquid hydrocarbons to meet the increased demand for renewable fuels as blending stock in the transportation sector while improving the sustainability of the plant.