For some years, the cost and availability of petroleum feedstocks have been a concern for industrial and manufacturing operations. With the instability currently being experienced in the world's major oil-producing regions, many companies and governmental agencies have begun looking to alternative sources as a possible substitute for petroleum-based feedstocks. Biomass has emerged as perhaps the most promising near-term option. Biomass feedstocks have been utilized for centuries to provide process heating. The use of biomass as a feedstock in industrial processes, however, requires a conversion system capable of generating hydrogen, H2, and carbon monoxide, CO, in ratios and quantities that allow utilization of proven, petrochemical processes.

Mississippi Ethanol (ME) and the Institute of Clean Energy Technology have participated with the Department of Energy in a comprehensive effort to develop the conversion of biomass utilizing a proprietary gasification reactor. Tasks were split between operation of a pilot-scale unit and a 1/10 pilot-scale unit. Capacity of the pilot-scale unit was a nominal 30 tons/day of waste wood. Each unit was characterized for gas composition versus process operating parameters. In addition, the data from both units were evaluated to develop scale-up factors. The results indicate that the ME gasification system can convert biomass into a gas which can be used to supplement, or replace, petroleum feedstocks in industrial processes.