• Julian Gravino, President/CEO, EISC/CIFT
• Dr. Joseph Hager, Senior Project Scientist, EMTEC

Biomass includes all plant material whether derived from farm, forest or aquacultural sources. Refuse derived fuels (RDF) include a broad range of materials with high energy content that are separated from a landfill solid waste stream, industrial/trade waste, sewage sludge or industrial hazardous waste. Currently, energy from biomass is derived primarily from high value grains fermented into ethanol or converted into biodiesel. In the future, processing plants will use advanced technology such as hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass to sugars and lignin and thermochemical conversion of biomass and RDF to synthesis gas. Speakers in this session will describe various energy conversion processes for these fuel forms, and will highlight opportunities for would-be suppliers.

• "Biomass to Energy" - Rick Mazur, Center for Innovative Food Technology EISC, Inc.

  Biomass is plentiful in Ohio and many other states. Chipped/shredded wood and industrial wood related wastes are a very large biomass fuel resource in Ohio. Direct burning of wood wastes in simple or sophisticated combustion chambers is one method of using this biomass resource as a replacement for fossil fuels. Direct burning can be financially rewarding due to the relatively low fuel costs so the installation of biomass burners can provide a good return on investment compared to continued use of nonrenewable fuels.
  
  Another biomass that is plentiful in Ohio is wet food processing and agricultural wastes that are very suitable for anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that produces a methane rich biogas very. Methane is a very desirable fuel. Slow rate anaerobic digesters can produce methane but the large size required to handle the quantity of waste increase tank construction costs. Well controlled high rate anaerobic digesters can be built smaller and more economically to provide an attractive return on investment. Although they do not resolve all the environmental problems, anaerobic digesters have environmental benefits that makes them an attractive renewable fuel technology.

• "Biodiesel Production" - Mike Dow, Peter Cremer North America

  Mr. Dow will speak about the supply chain for the creation of biodiesel fuel by Peter Cremer, North America, one of the Midwest's largest producers.

• "Ethanol Production from Grain and Biomass" - Constance Schall, University of Toledo

  Recent estimates show that lignocellulosic biomass-based ethanol production schemes have the potential to provide enough ethanol to meet a significant portion of the transportation fuel needs of the U.S. Most bioethanol currently produced in the U.S. is from sugars derived from grains (cornstarch). Analysis by the USDA and the Department of Energy have estimated that ethanol from grains can provide only a small fraction of the U.S. demand for transportation fuels, whereas biomass sources can provide up to 30% of this demand. In this presentation, the production of ethanol from grains and biomass is compared and contrasted. Technical challenges and opportunities in ethanol production from biomass are outlined.

• "Gasification Applied to Biomass and Refuse" - Thomas Meth, Intrinergy LLC

  Mr. Meth will speak about a method of converting biomass materials such as wood chips into synthesis gas using a gasification process. His company, Intrinergy, has a number of such plants either in operation construction.

• "Biomass-to-Liquids: The Next Generation of Biofuels" - Jeff McDaniel, Velocys

  Sustained high oil prices, the specter of global climate change, and the drive for energy security have renewed interest in synthetic fuels derived from a variety of feedstock materials especially biomass. The technology for converting these relatively abundant materials into liquid petroleum is known; however, the cost and operating challenges of the key processing step - Fischer-Tropsch synthesis - have relegated this technology to niche applications. Velocys Incorporated of Plain City, Ohio is developing a novel, highly scalable Fischer-Tropsch reactor that holds the potential to overcome past challenges and set the stage for wide spread production of clean synthetic fuels.
  
  Smaller facilities are generally needed for biomass-to-liquids opportunities. The concept of producing synthetic fuels in compact units hinges on the ability to economically scale-down reaction hardware while maintaining sufficient capacity. Systems based on microchannel process technology have the potential to allow for smaller-scale applications by greatly reducing the size of chemical processing hardware. Reactors using this technology are characterized by parallel arrays of microchannels, with typical dimensions in the 0.3 to 5.0mm range. Processes are intensified by reducing heat and mass transfer distances, thus decreasing transfer resistance between process fluids and channel walls. Overall system volumes are typically reduced 10 to 100-fold or more compared with conventional hardware. This presentation will discuss the status of and the path ahead for microchannel Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. In addition to the technical development, the presentation will show a conceptual compact, mobile 5 million gallon/year synthetic fuel unit developed by Velocys.