Studying the Complexity of Biomass Derived Biofuels

Yun Xu,Wolfgang Schrader

doi:10.3390/en14082032

Abstract

Biofuel produced from biomass pyrolysis is a good example of a highly complex mixture. Detailed understanding of its composition is a prerequisite for optimizing transformation processes and further upgrading conditions. The major challenge in understanding the composition of biofuel derived from biomass is the wide range of compounds with high diversity in polarity and abundance that can be present. In this work, a comprehensive analysis using mass spectrometry is reported. Different operation conditions are studied by utilizing multiple ionization methods (positive mode atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) and negative mode ESI) and applying different resolving power set-ups (120 k, 240 k, 480 k and 960 k) and scan techniques (full scan and spectral stitching method) to study the complexity of a pyrolysis biofuel. Using a mass resolution of 960 k and the spectral stitching scan technique gives a total of 21,703 assigned compositions for one ionization technique alone. The number of total compositions is significantly expanded by the combination of different ionization methods.

Highlights

The decrease of petroleum resources, in combination with the economic, environmental and political concerns associated with petroleum-based economies, drives a resurgence in the development of alternatives to fossil fuels [1]
In this work, a comprehensive analysis was performed to study the complexity of pyrolysis-derived biofuels
As was demonstrated using different resolution settings and scan methods, utmost instrument performance is a crucial aspect of pyrolysis oil analysis

Summary

Introduction

The decrease of petroleum resources, in combination with the economic, environmental and political concerns associated with petroleum-based economies, drives a resurgence in the development of alternatives to fossil fuels [1]. One of the most efficient ways to generate bio-oils is fast pyrolysis, generally carried out at temperatures of around 500 ◦C using a short residence time (several seconds), non-oxidative conditions and sometimes, a solid-state catalyst [4,5,6] The mechanism behind this process is thermal cracking, which enables the breakdown of organic biopolymers into smaller molecules. Biomass-derived oil usually contains up to 60% oxygen, which fundamentally limits its use as an energy source because of its correspondingly low heating value, high corrosiveness, high viscosity and instability. Such oils, need to be upgraded [2,7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion