Mild Hydrothermal Liquefaction of High Water Content Agricultural Residue for Bio-Crude Oil Production: A Parametric Study

Yongsheng Zhang,Animesh Dutta,Chunbao Xu,Zhongshun Yuan,Jamie Minaret

doi:10.3390/en11113129

Yongsheng Zhang, Animesh Dutta + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en11113129

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Abstract

Depleting petroleum reserves together with the associated environmental concerns have intensified the exploration of alternatives to petroleum. Wet food processing wastes present promising bioresources for liquid fuel production via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) followed by additional upgrading. In this study, tomato plant waste (TPW) was utilized as a feedstock for the production of bio-crude oils via HTL at medium-temperature (220–280 °C) in water or a water–ethanol (17/3, v/v) medium in a 600 mL autoclave reactor. Effects of various operating parameters, such as catalysts (H2SO4 or KOH), reaction time (15–60 min) and reaction temperature (220–280 °C) on product yields were investigated. This study showed that a high yield (45.1 wt%) of bio-crude oil was achieved from HTL of TPW in water–ethanol medium at 250 °C in the presence of acid catalyst H2SO4. The oil, gas and solid residue (SR) products were analyzed for their chemical and structural properties.

Highlights

Since its discovery, petroleum has been the dominating source of liquid transportation fuels and chemicals [1]
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) presents a viable route for converting agricultural waste with high moisture content into liquid fuel, with low energy input comparing to other thermo chemical technologies
We extracted hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) bio-oils from the tomato plant wastes (TPW) under mild conditions, focusing on the influence of acidic and alkaline conditions on HTL liquid products

Summary

Introduction

Petroleum has been the dominating source of liquid transportation fuels and chemicals [1]. The fast depletion of petroleum reserves, the environmental challenges such as greenhouse gas emission, and the concerns over energy security, have intensified the efforts in searching for alternatives [2]. Due to their immense supply, cost-effectiveness and cleanliness, bio-renewable resources (i.e., bioresources) are believed to be promising candidates to replace petroleum. The use of organic residues for bioresource production present the additional benefit of eliminating a waste stream, while at the same time producing a valuable product [3] These organic residues include agricultural residues and food-processing wastes (e.g., crop residues, energy plants, wet greenhouse wastes, etc.), forestry residues (e.g., sawdust, bark, lignin, etc.), and municipal wastes (e.g., municipal solid wastes, wastewater sludge, etc.).

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