Patent Publication Number: US-2023158447-A1

Title: Devices, systems, facilities and processes for bio fermentation based facilities

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/281,770 filed Nov. 22, 2021, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Manufacturing facilities such as corn milling, ethanol, and biogas plants contribute to greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases comprise various gaseous components such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride that absorb radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere, and generally contribute to undesirable environmental green-house effects. 
     These facilities often implement certain forms of hydrocarbon reduction technologies such as scrubbers. However, typically these facilities do not have a dedicated process specifically designed to reduce most greenhouse gas emissions. 
     Bio-fermentation based facilities and related processes need to improve the overall efficiency of the facility and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
     SUMMARY 
     In light of the disclosure herein, and without limiting the scope of the invention in any way, in a first aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, a bio fermentation facility includes a fermentation unit and process heaters/boilers which both generate greenhouses gases as a byproduct. The inlet to the fermentation unit is the hot or cooled mash which consists primarily of glucose. 
     In a second aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the bio fermentation facility includes a gas conditioning unit to process the CO2 rich gas coming from the fermentation unit. A blower can be placed either upstream or downstream of this unit in order to send the gas to compression. 
     In a third aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from one or more process units, such as process heaters, may be released to the atmosphere. 
     In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from the gas conditioning unit may be sent to a cooler to lower the temperature prior to compression. 
     In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the CO2 rich gas from the cooler may be sent to the sequestration compression unit, which may be gas, steam or electric driven. If the compressor is gas driven, the CO2 emissions from the gas turbine may be recycled to the plant inlet. If the compressor is steam driven, the steam will be consumed from the steam produced at the existing facility. The sequestration compressor may include a dehydration unit. The sequestration compression unit may be configured to compress and convey at least one CO2-rich stream towards a sequestration site, thereby reducing the overall emissions from the facility. 
     In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from process units such as the process heaters/boilers are sent to a tie-in downstream of the cooler and upstream of the capture unit via a flue gas booster fan/blower which can be placed upstream or downstream of the gas/gas exchanger. The capture unit includes an absorber and a commercially available absorbing media for CO2 (amine, ammonia, ionic fluids, sodium carbonate, methanol, potassium chloride, and any other available industrial solvents) for absorbing CO2. This tie-in also includes the flue gas from the fermentation unit which is downstream of the gas conditioning unit and cooler. 
     In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from the process/heaters is sent to a Waste Heat Recovery Unit (WHRU). The waste heat recovered in the form of a heating medium or steam may be sent to the reboiler of the capture unit. 
     In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from the cooler is sent to a tie-in point that joins the flue gas from the process heaters/boilers. This joint stream is sent to the inlet of the capture unit. The capture unit includes an absorber and a commercially available absorbing media for CO2 (amine, ammonia, ionic fluids, sodium carbonate, methanol, potassium chloride, and any other available industrial solvents) for absorbing CO2. The steam from the existing facility is used for the regenerator reboiler in the capture unit. 
     In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the CO2 rich gas stream from the capture unit may be sent to the sequestration compression unit. The compressor of the sequestration compression unit may be gas, steam or electric driven. If the compressor is gas driven, the CO2 emissions may be recycled to the plant inlet and/or to the capture unit. If the compressor is steam driven, the steam may be consumed from the steam produced at the existing facility. The sequestration compressor may include a dehydration unit. The sequestration compression unit may be configured to compress and convey at least one CO2-rich stream towards a sequestration site, thereby reducing the overall emissions from the facility. 
     In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the flue gas from the process heaters/boilers are sent directly to the capture unit via a flue gas blower and then to a gas-gas exchanger for cooling. The capture unit includes a commercially available absorbing media for CO2 (amine, ammonia, ionic fluids, sodium carbonate, methanol, potassium chloride, and any other industrially available solvents) and an absorber for absorbing CO2. The steam from the existing facility can be used for the regenerator reboiler, and/or steam/heat generated from the Waste Heat Recovery Unit (WHRU). The treated CO2 rich stream is sent to a tie-in point downstream of the cooler and upstream of the sequestration compression unit. The flue gas from the fermentation unit is sent to the gas conditioning unit and cooler as described in the seventh and eighth aspects. 
     In an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the CO2 gas from the sequestration compression unit is sent to sequestration. The sequestration compression unit is configured to compress and convey at least one CO2-rich stream towards a sequestration site, thereby reducing the overall emissions from facility. 
     In a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises an underground land based geological formation. 
     In a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises a region below a seabed. 
     In a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises a region located at a depth greater than about 3.0 kilometers below sea level. 
     In a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises a geological formation containing a saline aquifer below a seabed. 
     In a sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises a geological formation containing a saline aquifer below a seabed. 
     In a seventeenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises an off-site underground geological formation comprising an at least partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoir (Enhanced Oil Recovery). 
     In an eighteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises a pipeline for transporting a CO2 rich stream to other industrial users. 
     In a nineteenth aspect of the present disclosure, which may be combined with any other aspect listed herein unless specified otherwise, the sequestration site comprises of CO2 storage tanks to be sent to aggregate, to be sent to syngas production, and/or to be used for power production. For power production, the liquid CO2 which is stored can act as a “peak shaving” facility and evaporate the liquid CO2 as power is required. This liquid CO2 is expanded into gas to drive a set of turbines to generate electricity. The gas is returned to a dome to be stored and compressed into liquid to start the cycle again. 
     Additional features and advantages of the disclosed devices, systems, and methods are described in and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the Figures. The features and advantages described herein are not all-inclusive and in particular many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the figures and description. Also, any particular embodiment does not have to have all of the advantages listed herein. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and not to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       Understanding that the figures depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not to be considered to be limiting the scope of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying figures. The figures are listed below. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility with the flue gas from the fermentation unit being sent to sequestration and the flue gas from the process heaters being sent to atmosphere. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility with the flue gas from the fermentation unit and the flue gas from the process heater being sent to the capture unit before being sent to sequestration. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility with the flue gas from the fermentation unit being sent to sequestration and the flue gas from the process heaters being sent to the capture unit before combining with the fermentation flue gas, upstream of the sequestration compression unit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One of ordinary skill in the art could implement numerous alternate embodiments, which would still fall within the scope of the claims. To the extent that any term is referred to in a manner consistent with a single meaning, that is done for the sake of clarity and illustration only, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited to that single meaning. 
     Referring now to the figures,  FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility  100  with the flue gas from the fermentation unit  101  being sent to sequestration and the flue gas from the process heaters  117  being sent to atmosphere. An existing plant  118  sends hot or cooled mash to the fermentation unit  101 , where yeast may be introduced. In the fermentation unit  101 , the mash may undergo a batch process that can take between 40-50 hours. A high concentration CO2 may be generated from this reaction. The rich CO2 flue gas stream from the fermentation unit  101  may be sent to the blower  102  and then sent to the gas conditioning unit  103  to condition the rich CO2 gas from the fermentation unit  101 . Once this gas has been conditioned in order to provide the CO2 quality required for the CO2 pipeline and sequestration, this stream may be sent to a cooler  104  to be cooled in preparation for compression. For example, the cooler  104  may lower the temperature of the CO2 gas stream to assist in removing water to prepare the stream for compression. 
     The CO2 rich stream from the cooler  104  may be sent to the sequestration compression unit  105 . The sequestration compression unit  105  may include one or more knockout drums for collecting any remaining liquid in the gas stream. The sequestration compression unit  105  may further include at least one compressor configured to compress the carbon dioxide rich stream. Within the stages of the sequestration compression is a dehydration unit  106  (i.e TEG, molecular sieve) which may remove additional water to meet the sequestration specifications. The sequestration compression unit  105  can be designed to achieve a 50% turndown capacity while still sequestering the full amount of CO2. 
     The dry CO2 stream may then be sent from the sequestration compression unit  105  to transportation  107 . This can include for example sending the CO2 rich gas to an on-site or off-site storage tank  113 , to a tank mounted on a rail car, or a tank mounted on a truck-drawn trailer. The CO2 can be sent to a sequestration site, such as a sequestration site that is underneath a land-based formation  108 , a sequestration site that is underneath a sea-based formation  109 , or a sequestration site that is a geological formation that contains a saline aquifer below the seabed  110 . In some related embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region below a seabed, wherein the seabed can be located at a depth greater than about 3.0 kilometers below sea level. In some related embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream may be injectable into a partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoir to aid in enhanced oil recovery  111 . In some related embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream can be sent as raw material for other industrial users  112 . In some related embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream can be sent to liquid CO2 storage tanks  113 , to be combined with aggregate  114 , to be used in syngas production  115 , and/or to be used in power production  116 . For power production, the liquid CO2 which is stored can act as a “peak shaving” facility and evaporate the liquid CO2 as power is required. For example, this liquid CO2 may be expanded into gas to drive a set of turbines to generate electricity. The gas is returned to a dome to be stored and compressed into liquid to start the cycle again. 
     In some embodiments, the sequestration compression unit  105  may include a compressor that may be driven by existing steam generated from the existing plant  118 , a gas turbine, and/or an electric motor. Excess CO2 from the sequestration compression unit  105  is recycled and sent upstream of the blower  102 . Liquids from the knockout drums within sequestration compression units  105  may be sent back to the existing plant  118  to be stored or disposed of safely. 
     By sending the carbon dioxide rich stream to some form of sequestration, overall greenhouse gas emissions from facility  100  can be reduced. The flue gas from process units such as the process heaters and boilers  117  may be sent to the atmosphere as per the status quo. 
     The bio fermentation-based facility  100  may also include ancillary heating equipment running full time to support the heating requirements of the carbon capture facility. The ancillary heating equipment can be provided to handle about 0-50% turndown with a low capture yield and a fast response on increased capture rate when the system is ramped up. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility  200  with the flue gas from the fermentation unit being sent to a joint capture unit with the flue gas from the process heaters/boilers. The joint stream is processed and sent to sequestration. 
     The existing plant  224  may send the hot or cooled mash to the fermentation unit  201 , where yeast is introduced. The mash may undergoes a batch process in the fermentation unit  201  that may take about 40-50 hours. The high concentration CO2 may be generated from this reaction. 
     The rich CO2 stream from the fermentation unit  201  may be sent to the blower  202  and then sent to the gas conditioning unit  203  to condition the rich CO2 gas from the fermentation unit  201 . Once this gas has been conditioned, this stream is sent to a cooler  204  to be cooled in preparation for capture. 
     The flue gas from the process units such as process heaters, boilers and other plant users  205  may be sent to a waste heat recovery unit  206  to generate heat and/or steam to be sent to the regenerator reboiler in the capture unit  210 . The cooled flue gas may be sent to a flue gas blower  207  and then sent to the heat exchanger  209  to be cooled further. The flue gas blower  207  can be located upstream or downstream of the heat exchanger  209 . In some embodiments, the heat exchanger  209  may be a gas/gas heat exchanger, and the cooling medium may be ambient air, which can be sent to the gas/gas exchanger from an air blower  208  that is upstream of the gas/gas exchanger  209 . In some embodiments, the heat exchanger may be a direct contact cooler utilizing water as the cooling medium for the flue gas. 
     The cooled flue gas may be joined with the cooled fermentation CO2 downstream of the cooler  204  before being sent to the joint capture unit  210 . The joint capture unit  210  may include an absorber and a commercially available absorbing media for CO2 to absorb CO2. Examples of absorbing media include amine, ammonia, ionic fluids, sodium carbonate, methanol, potassium chloride, and any other available industrial solvents. The capture unit  210  can be designed to achieve 50% turndown capacity whilst still achieving a 95% capture rate. The rich CO2 stream may be sent from the joint capture unit  210  to the sequestration compressor  212 . 
     In some embodiments, the sequestration compressor  212  may be a gas driven compressor, and the CO2 from the gas driven compressor can be used as feedstock to create an additional flue gas stream, which may then be sent to the absorber in the capture unit  210 . Alternatively or additionally, the additional flu gas stream may be sent to an inlet upstream of the blower  202  and/or an inlet upstream of the gas conditioning unit  203 . If the compressor is instead a steam or electric driven compressor, then there will be no CO2 emissions from the compressor. Within the sequestration compressor  212 , there may be a dehydration unit  213  that the CO2 rich stream is sent to be dehydrated further and then sent back to the sequestration compressor  212  to be further compressed. The sequestration compression unit  212  can be designed to achieve a 50% turndown capacity while still sequestering the full amount of CO2. 
     The compressed gas may be sent to be transported though pipeline, truck, rail, or any other commercially feasible methods  214  and sequestered. In some embodiments, the sequestration compression unit  212  may include a compressor that is driven by existing steam generated from the existing plant  224  or by an electric motor. Liquids from the knockout drums within the sequestration compression units  212  may be sent back to the existing plant  224  to be stored or disposed of via truck. 
     In some embodiments, the CO2 stream can be sequestered in a land-based formation  215 , a sea based formation  216 , in a geological formation containing a saline aquifer below a seabed, and/or be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)  218  in a partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoir. In some embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region on top of a seabed, at a depth greater than three kilometers below sea level. In some embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region below a seabed. In some embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region below a seabed, wherein the seabed is located at a depth greater than about 3.0 kilometers below sea level. 
     In some embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream can be sent as raw material for other industrial users  219  and/or to liquid CO2 storage tanks  220  to be combined with aggregate  221 , to be used in syngas production  222 , and/or to be used in power production  223 . For power production, the liquid CO2 which is stored can act as a “peak shaving” facility and evaporate the liquid CO2 as power is required. This liquid CO2 is expanded into gas to drive a set of turbines to generate electricity. The gas is returned to a dome to be stored and compressed into liquid to start the cycle again. 
     The bio fermentation-based facility  200  may also include ancillary heating equipment running full time to support the heating requirements of the carbon capture facility. The ancillary heating equipment may be provided to handle about 0-50% turndown with a low capture yield and a fast response on increased capture rate when the system is ramped up. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates an exemplary schematic of a bio fermentation-based facility  300  with the flue gas from the fermentation unit being sent to a joint capture unit with the flue gas from the process heaters/boilers. The joint stream is processed and sent to sequestration. 
     The existing plant  324  may send the hot or cooled mash to the fermentation unit  301 , where yeast may be introduced. The mash may undergo a batch process in the fermentation unit  301  that may take from about 40 to about 50 hours. The high concentration CO2 may be generated from this reaction. 
     The rich CO2 stream from the fermentation unit  301  may be sent to the blower  302  and then sent to the gas conditioning unit  303  to condition the rich CO2 gas from the fermentation unit  301 . Once this gas has been conditioned, this stream may be sent to a cooler  304  to be cooled in preparation for compression. 
     The flue gas from the process units such as process heaters, boilers and other plant users  305  may be sent to a waste heat recovery unit  306  to generate heat and/or steam to be sent to the regenerator reboiler in the capture unit  310 . The cooled flue gas may be sent to a flue gas blower  307  and then sent to the heat exchanger  309  to be cooled further. The flue gas blower  307  can be located upstream or downstream of the heat exchanger  309 . In some embodiments, the heat exchanger  309  may be a gas/gas heat exchanger, and the cooling medium may be ambient air, which can be sent to the gas/gas exchanger from an air blower  308  that is upstream of the gas/gas exchanger  309 . In some embodiments, the heat exchanger  309  may be a direct contact cooler utilizing water as the cooling medium for the flue gas. The cooled flue gas may then be sent to the capture unit  310 . 
     The capture unit  310  may include an absorber and a commercially available absorbing media for CO2 to absorb CO2. Examples of absorbing media include amine, ammonia, ionic fluids, sodium carbonate, methanol, potassium chloride, and any other available industrial solvents. The capture unit  310  is designed to achieve 50% turndown capacity whilst still achieving a 95% capture rate. The rich CO2 stream may be joined with the CO2 stream downstream of the cooler  304  before being sent to the sequestration compressor  312 . In some embodiments, the compressor in the sequestration compressor  312  may be a gas driven compressor, and the flue gas from the gas driven compressor may then be sent to the absorber in the capture unit  310 . Alternatively or additionally, the additional flu gas stream may be sent to an inlet upstream of the blower  302  and/or an inlet upstream of the gas conditioning unit  303 . If this is a steam or electric driven compressor then there will be no CO2 emissions from the compressor. 
     Within the sequestration compressor unit  312 , there may be a dehydration unit  313  to which the CO2 rich stream may be sent to be dehydrated further, and then the dehydrated CO2 rich stream may be sent back to the sequestration compressor  312  to be further compressed. In some embodiments, the sequestration compression unit  312  may include a compressor that may be driven by existing steam generated from the existing plant  324  or by an electric motor. Liquids from the knockout drums within sequestration compression units  312  may be sent back to the facility to be stored or disposed of via truck. Once compressed, this gas may be sent to be transported though pipeline, truck, rail, or any other commercially feasible methods  314  and sequestered. The sequestration compression unit  312  can be designed to achieve a 50% turndown capacity while still sequestering the full amount of CO2. 
     In some embodiments, the CO2 stream can be sequestered in a land-based formation  315 , a sea based formation  316 , in a geological formation containing a saline aquifer below a seabed, and/or be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)  318  in a partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoir. In some embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region on top of a seabed, at a depth greater than three kilometers below sea level. In another embodiment, the sequestration site is a region below a seabed. In some embodiments, the sequestration site may be a region below a seabed, wherein the seabed is located at a depth greater than about 3.0 kilometers below sea level. 
     In some embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream can be sent as raw material for other industrial users  319 . In some embodiments, the transferred carbon dioxide rich stream can be sent to liquid CO2 storage tanks  320  to be combined with aggregate  321 , to be used in syngas production  322 , and/or to be used in power production  323 . For power production, the liquid CO2 which is stored can act as a “peak shaving” facility and evaporate the liquid CO2 as power is required. This liquid CO2 may be expanded into gas to drive a set of turbines to generate electricity. The gas may be returned to a dome to be stored and compressed into liquid to start the cycle again. 
     The bio fermentation-based facility  300  may also include ancillary heating equipment running full time to support the heating requirements of the carbon capture facility. The ancillary heating equipment can be provided to handle 0-50% turndown with a low capture yield and a fast response on increased capture rate when the system is ramped up. 
     As used in this specification, including the claims, the term “and/or” is a conjunction that is either inclusive or exclusive. Accordingly, the term “and/or” either signifies that one selection may be made from a group of alternatives. 
     The many features and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the written description, and thus, the appended claims are intended to cover all such features and advantages of disclosure. Further, since numerous modification and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the present disclosure is not limited to the exact construction and operation as illustrated and described. Therefore, the described embodiments should be taken as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure should not be limited to the details given herein but should be defined by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable no or in the future.