Solar-thermal gasification of biomass in supercritical water provides a pathway for production of fuels using domestic waste, sewerage, and forestry and crop residues. The approach does not require biomass drying, and significantly reduces the production of tars. The process heat for the gasification process is provided by a solar concentrator. The combination of moderate temperatures, high pressures and the corrosive properties of the fluid leads requires employment of highly-durable reactor materials. The syngas is obtained at high pressure and it can be directly delivered to a downstream Fischer–Tropsch (FT) plant for immediate synthesis of a liquid fuel.
The work scope includes process testing at a small scale in an electrically heated reactor, SCWG and FT reactor modeling, integrated system modelling, and economic assessment of the complete gasification and synthesis pathway towards commercial implementation.