Biofuels

In today’s world, where fossil fuels are used extensively, the environmental benefits of biofuels—which do not emit carbon into the atmosphere—have sparked widespread international interest in the biofuel industry.

In addition to analysing biofuel production processes, mass spectrometers serve as powerful research tools for discovering new sources of biofuel.

The company offers two types of process mass spectrometers designed to provide a range of analytical capabilities, assisting scientists and engineers in the accurate and efficient development of biofuel conversion processes. The ProC-1-TOF bioreactor gas analyser and the ProC-2-TOF laboratory gas analyser offer the flexibility to perform rapid and accurate analyses whilst withstanding harsh process environments.

Energy/Biofuel Applications

1. Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are regarded as future alternatives to fossil fuels. Many organisations are conducting fuel cell research, with a focus on commercialising the technology. Typically, experiments involve laboratory-scale versions of catalytic processes, in which inlet components are strictly controlled, whilst outlet components vary according to fuel cell conditions.

To determine conversion rates and efficiency, researchers need to be able to measure the composition at the fuel cell inlet and outlet. For many years, standard laboratory mass spectrometers have been used to identify unknown substances. However, the ProC-TOF online mass spectrometer is capable of continuously measuring both known and unknown components, making the ProC-TOF online mass spectrometer the ideal analytical instrument for fuel cell research. This mass spectrometer provides the sensitivity and detection limits required for these types of reactions, particularly for hydrogen measurements.

2. Analysis of biofuel sources

Pyrolysis and combustion analysis require extremely rapid and stable chemical analysis of the combustion process or exhaust gas streams. The key to this process is the use of a gas analysis system with high sensitivity and high resolution; the ProC-TOF online mass spectrometer accurately monitors a wide range of applications whilst maintaining a short dead time between sample runs.

Widely used in:

Detection and measurement of sugar and lignin content in biofuel plant sources

Monitoring of vehicle engine exhaust gases

Detection of trace metals or the chemical composition of particulates in furnace exhaust gases

Analysis of rocket engine combustion products to improve engine efficiency

Detection of complex carbohydrate content in biofuel sources

3. Ethanol

Ethanol is produced from biomass or other organic sources in a variety of ways. To better control the production process and improve efficiency, increasing emphasis is being placed on the importance of rapid and accurate gas analysis for optimal fermentation control. The methods being implemented are similar to those used for many years in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Advantages of the ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer in this context:

Rapid analysis of multiple groups simultaneously, with each group taking approximately 400 milliseconds

An electron multiplier detector with automatic range switching, providing a continuous dynamic range from 100 per cent to 10 parts per billion (ppb)

The flexibility of the mass spectrometer allows engineers to investigate the process

Low detection limits

Capability for multi-stream analysis and communication protocols, such as OPC or Modbus

Ability to easily add new components to analytical methods, or new process streams to analytical sequences (without changing the hardware)

Survey scans can be performed to detect the presence of any unknown or undesirable constituents

4. Gasification/Syngas

In today’s ongoing search for affordable alternative fuel sources, gasification is a technology that is steadily gaining popularity. Gasification utilises a variety of raw materials and by-products—such as coal, biomass, petroleum or biofuels—and converts these materials into usable syngas through a partial oxidation process. Syngas can be used in a wide range of applications, such as power generation, chemical manufacturing and even to power turbines. Monitoring the various stages of these processes is vital for ensuring proper combustion, maintaining efficiency and identifying unknown and potentially undesirable by-products. Using the ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer enables real-time analysis of all types of gasification.

The ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer has long been the analytical system of choice for producers of ammonia, methanol, ethanol and hydrogen synthesis gas. It can rapidly cycle between all gasification streams, such as gasifier composition, sulphur removal, CO conversion, CO₂ removal and numerous end-product processes.

The ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer supports laboratory or pilot-scale reactor studies of syngas reactions, with a typical analysis time of less than 7 seconds per stream. It supports a variety of industry-standard communication protocols, including Ethernet, bidirectional Modbus RTU or TCP/IP, OPC, analogue and digital outputs, and custom communication protocols.

5. Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production plants frequently choose the ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer for its speed and ability to analyse multiple streams; it has become the system of choice for obtaining accurate calorific value analysis to ensure product quality control and maximise hydrogen production revenue.

It can provide a complete compositional analysis of natural gas or feedstock streams in under 10 seconds.

The ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer offers the following advantages:

Capability to perform real-time compositional analysis and calculate the calorific value of process feed gas

Capability to perform C1–C8 analysis in under 10 seconds

Capability to analyse over 60 streams

The flow-switching function enables operators to rapidly analyse other process streams, such as reformer effluents, tail gases and recycle streams

Using an optional electron multiplier detector, it is possible to analyse the combined nitrogen and carbon monoxide content in hydrogen product purity streams to the part-per-million level.

6. Renewable Energy / Natural Gas / Biofuels

The ProC-TOF process mass spectrometer is widely used to calculate the BTU values of feed streams in biofuel, hydrocarbon and petrochemical applications to optimise process efficiency. Furthermore, the analyser’s capability to provide rapid and accurate compositional analysis enables plant operators to strictly control process parameters such as the steam-to-carbon ratio and calorific value.

With rising energy prices and increasing pressure to improve efficiency, the analysis of natural gas at production and consumption points has become a critical requirement. As natural gas products are priced according to their BTU value, the ProC-TOF real-time calorific value gas analyser is required to provide the rapid and accurate analysis essential for product quality control and maximising natural gas revenue.

In addition to rapid analysis times, the ProC-TOF series of gas analysers also features flow path switching. A single mass spectrometer possesses all the functionality required to replace multiple traditional BTU analysers in natural gas processing facilities.

Compared to traditional BTU analysers, calorimeters and gas chromatographs, the ProC-TOF series offers several advantages.

Advantages include:

The ability to perform a complete compositional analysis in under 10 seconds

The ability to analyse multiple streams

Compositional analysis, as opposed to merely receiving a final BTU value from a BTU analyser

No need for tail gas or carrier gas

MAX100-BTU in natural gas applications:

Measures stream components from C1 to C6, including butane and pentane isotopes

Measures ‘heavy’ components such as C6 isotopes, heptane, octane and aromatics such as benzene and toluene; an optional electron multiplier detector provides hydrogen sulphide measurements in parts per million (ppm) Provides accurate hydrogen measurements when analysing mixed fuel gas streams such as refinery ‘tail gas’