Hydrogenation of bio-oil in a needle-plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Abstract

A needle-plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor was constructed to achieve bio-oil hydrogenation under low temperature and normal pressure. According to the composition and content of rice husk bio-oil, seven model compounds were mixed up to prepare simulated bio-oil, and effects of operating voltage, gas flow rate and reaction time on the deoxygenation rate and high calorific value of simulated bio-oil were investigated. The results showed that the maximum deoxidation rate of 31.62% was achieved, with the high calorific value of bio-oil increased from 25.78 MJ/kg to 32.69 MJ/kg, and the pH value increased from 3.67 to 4.83, which confirmed the feasibility of using dielectric barrier discharge reaction to hydrogenate bio-oil under low temperature and normal pressure conditions. With energy consumption and energy conversion rate as indexes, the operation economy of bio-oil hydrogenation process in the needle-plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor was evaluated, calculation results showed that under the optimized operation conditions, energy consumption of 2.44 kW·h/kg and energy conversion rate of 40.87% were achieved.