Production of Synthetic Fuel from Anaerobic Digester Gas

The waste generated from feed lots, dairy farms, meat processing, etc can be converted to a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide using anaerobic digestion.  The methane can be converted to synthesis gas and subsequently converted to synthetic fuel using Fischer Tropsch technology.

Ceramatec is working with a number of small companies to determine the feasibility of construction of modular digester based Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plants for the conversion of waste to liquid fuels.  Ceramatec is currently operating a small, ¼ BPD Gas-to-Liquids pre-pilot plant at its Salt Lake City, Utah facility.  The existing laboratory system has been run with a variety of catalysts and a variety of conditions.  Based on the test results, a modular GTL plant that is road transportable has been designed and fabrication cost estimated on a per barrel-per-day (BPD) of capacity.  The paper will describe the test results that have been obtained to date and discuss the amount of waste required for a GTL plant based on anaerobic digester gas.  The paper will further discuss computer simulation of animal based waste systems both in the United States and overseas.