Biomass gasification and Utilization of its Syngas for the One Step Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate

Thermochemical conversion of biomass, particularly gasification, is an important option to replace fossil fuels use. The gasification product gas, syngas, typically a mixture of H2, CO and CO2 can be processed and readily converted into a suite of marketable products including chemicals and fuels. However, in order to reduce the CO2 footprint from the process, the CO2 is being utilized as a co-reactant for the chemical synthesis. Specifically, this thesis and addresses some of the engineering and fundamental aspects of biomass gasification and presents a novel catalytic process route for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from syngas (including CO2).