Abstract
Deoxygenation of triglycerides is one of the crucial pathways for the production of oxygen-free hydrocarbons and biofuels that are fully compatible with conventional internal combustion engines. The one-step liquefaction and hydrotreatment of Chlorella sorokiniana microalgae was investigated in a three-phase slurry reactor. The production of diesel-like hydrocarbons was successfully accomplished over sulfide form of NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst under hydrogen atmosphere. The present work contains a comprehensive investigation of the temperature and hydrogen pressure influence on the final product composition. The highest yield of C18 and C16 (26.1% and 10.7%, respectively) was reached by increasing the reaction temperature to 350 °C and hydrogen pressure to 50 bar, while at milder conditions (200 °C and 20 bar) the products appeared only in trace concentrations. In order to obtain an accurate kinetic model, reaction mechanism was first needed to be determined based on experimentally obtained products and intermediates. A simplified reaction pathway contains liquefaction, hydrogenolysis, hydrodeoxygenation, decarboxylation and decarbonylation. The model comprises mass transfer phenomena involved in the liquefaction process, the mass transfer of hydrogen from gas to liquid phase, adsorption, desorption and surface reaction kinetics. The lowest rate constant was calculated for the microalgae conversion to triglycerides (k0 = 1.93 × 10−6 min−1), indicating slow liquefaction.
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