Abstract
The depletion of fossil fuel has drawn growing attention towards the utilization of renewable biomass for sustainable energy production. Technologies for the production of algae derived biofuel has attracted wide attention in recent years. Direct thermochemical conversion of algae obtained biocrude oil with poor fuel quality due to the complex composition of algae. Thus, catalysts are required in such process to remove the heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. This article reviews the recent advances in catalytic systems for the direct catalytic conversion of algae, as well as catalytic upgrading of algae-derived oil or biocrude into liquid fuels with high quality. Heterogeneous catalysts with high activity in deoxygenation and denitrogenation are preferable for the conversion of algae oil to high-grade liquid fuel. The paper summarized the influence of reaction parameters and reaction routes for the catalytic conversion process of algae from critical literature. The development of new catalysts, conversion conditions, and efficiency indicators (yields and selectivity) from different literature are presented and compared. The future prospect and challenges in general utilization of algae are also proposed.
Highlights
The development of renewable and sustainable fuels is heavily required worldwide due to the depletion of finite fossil fuels [1,2]
This article focuses on the catalytic thermochemical conversion of algae as well as the catalytic upgrading of algal oil or biocrude to high-grade liquid fuels
The characteristics of biofuels from direct thermochemical conversion in recent research, the catalytic performances of catalysts on algae feedstock and bio-oil conversion are overviewed systematically, and the selection of catalysts is summarized in detail
Summary
The development of renewable and sustainable fuels is heavily required worldwide due to the depletion of finite fossil fuels [1,2]. Since algae contain considerable amount of lipids, extraction techniques are used to produce algal oil, which mainly consists of triglycerides and free fatty acids [21]. The traditional acid/base catalysts might corrode the equipment and cost a lot Another way to produce biodiesel from algae is through in situ transesterification of algal feedstock with the aid of solvent. Technologies such as microwave, ultrasound, or supercritical fluid are usually applied in this process to enhance the biodiesel yield [24,25,26,27,28]. Not all kinds of algae have high lipid content.
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