Feedstock For Bio-oil Production Research Articles

Thermal degradation characteristics, kinetic and thermodynamic analyses of date palm surface fibers at different heating rates

The potential of the least-exploited date pam waste was presented as feedstock for bio-oil production. The surface fibers of the date palm are widely available as waste material in the Gulf region, the Middle East, and Africa. Chemical composition analysis and physiochemical characterization showed that surface fibers are valuable feedstock for energy production. Surface fibers were analyzed thermogravimetrically at different heating rates (10, 20, and 30 °C /min) in an inert atmosphere. Decomposition was carried out in three stages: dehydration, devolatilization, and solid combustion. Kinetic analysis was performed on the devolatilization region using the Coats–Redfern model–fitting method using twenty–one reaction mechanisms from four different solid-state reaction mechanisms. Two diffusion models: one–way transport (g(x) = α2) and Valensi equation (g(x) = α+(1-α) × ln(1-α)) showed the highest regression coefficient (R2) with the experimental data. The activation energy (Ea) and the pre-exponential factor (A) was estimated to be 91.40 kJ/mol and 1.59 × 103 –29.39 × 103 min−1, respectively. The kinetic parameters were found to be dependent on the heating rate. The surface fibers' thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔG, and ΔS were 80–97, 151–164, and −0.17- −0.18 kJ/mol, respectively. This indicates that the pyrolysis of surface fibers is endothermal and not spontaneous. Since there is not much experimental work on the pyrolysis of surface fibers available in the literature, the reported results are crucial for designing the pyrolysis process.

Fast Pyrolysis of Napier Grass Catalyzed by Encapsulated Cu([H4]salen)

Napier grass can serve as a feedstock for bio-oil production, and the aim of this work comparatively evaluated the effect of catalysis by Cu([H4]salen) on pyrolysis of Napier grass relevant to bio-oil generation. The bio-oil, char, and gas produced during the pyrolysis of Napier grass were identified and quantified. The chemical composition of bio-oil was correlated with the catalysis. Bio-oil quality was analyzed by characterization, with a high content of phenolics, low content of oxygen, and a high heating value on the catalytic effect. The results obtained in this work suggested that a significant improvement has been proven for bio-oil quality compared to what has been reported in the literature.

Fast pyrolysis of Vietnamese waste biomass: relationship between biomass composition, reaction conditions, and pyrolysis products, and a strategy to use a biomass mixture as feedstock for bio-oil production

Four types of Vietnamese waste biomass were investigated for bio-oil production using the fast pyrolysis technology. Feedstock chemical composition, product yields, and bio-oil physical properties have been systematically compared. The chemical composition and properties of Vietnamese resources of biomass are similar to those of the other biomass. The experimental results showed that all obtained bio-oils fulfilled the specifications for pyrolysis liquid defined as ASTM D7544-12 Standard. The biomass composition has strong impact on product yields, especially bio-oil formation. Higher contents of the three main components in the feedstock (i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) lead to a higher yield of bio-oil, whereas its high ash content caused a decrease in the bio-oil yield. As a result, the bio-oil yields from feedstock are in the following order: bagasse > corn cob > rice husk > rice straw. In addition, pyrolysis conditions (e.g., temperature and nitrogen flowrate), but not biomass preparation (e.g., material particle size), influence the bio-oil yield and its properties, as well. However, it has been found that this influence for rice husk and rice straw feedstocks is more prominent than for bagasse and corn cob. Finally, a strategy for an efficient usage of various waste resources for future biorefineries was proposed.

Characterisation and Py-GC/MS analysis of Imperata Cylindrica as potential biomass for bio-oil production in Brunei Darussalam

Bio-oil production from renewable sources has been seen as suitable alternative to supply future energy demand. Perennials grasses are currently being developed as a suitable second-generation biofuel feedstock. It has advantages such as rapid growth rate, easy to grow, minimal maintenance and utilise marginal land without competing with food supply. Taking into account of the various challenges attributed to the transformation of second-generation biomass for energy production, this work systematically looks at the ecological perspective and the availability for bioenergy production from Imperata Cylindrica in Brunei Darussalam. Biomass characterisation was carried out to determine the properties and energy content, meanwhile py-GC/MS study was conducted to identify building blocks of value-added chemical from I. cylindrica. The physicochemical properties of feedstock was thoroughly evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis, proximate analysis, elemental analysis, compositional analysis, calorific value, and analytical pyrolysis interfaced with gas chromatograph (Py-GC/MS). Characterisation results indicate that Imperata Cylindrica has a calorific value of 18.39 MJ/kg, with low ash content and high percentage of volatile matter. Py-GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of furfural, 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran, 4-vinylguaiacol, propenylguaiacol, guaiacol and 4-ethylphenol. The fixed-bed pyrolysis experiment of imperata cylindrica showed that the yield of bio-oil increases with the increase of temperature and it reached a peak of 37.16% at 500 °C. These results show that Imperata Cylindrica is suitable as feedstock for bio-oil production via pyrolysis process.

Differences in Bed Agglomeration Behavior during the Fast Pyrolysis of Mallee Bark, Leaf, and Wood in a Fluidized-Bed Reactor at 500 °C

This paper reports the significant differences in bed agglomeration behavior during the fast pyrolysis of various mallee biomass components (leaf, wood, and bark) in a fluidized-bed reactor at 500 °C. The pyrolysis of mallee leaf and bark led to significant bed agglomeration yields of 12.0 and 13.4%, respectively, while the pyrolysis of the wood component results in little bed agglomeration yield of <0.1%. Ethanol washing of the leaf and bark samples was carried out to prepare solvent-extracted leaf and bark samples (the solid residues after extraction) and the extract samples (obtained after evaporating the solvent from the extracted solvent solutions). Subsequent pyrolysis of the solvent-extracted leaf and bark samples showed drastically reduced bed agglomeration yields of 6.0 and 1.3%, respectively. Direct pyrolysis of the extract samples from leaf and bark resulted in substantial bed agglomeration yields of 24.4 and 34.1%, respectively, suggesting that the extractives within biomass play a critical role in the bed agglomeration during biomass fast pyrolysis. The experimental results indicate that, if the biomass from the whole mallee tree is used as a feedstock for bio-oil production via fluidized-bed fast pyrolysis, then the leaf and bark components are expected to cause bed agglomeration, because of the substantial amount of extractives present in these biomass materials.

Preliminary biorefinery process proposal for protein and biofuels recovery from microalgae

A preliminary study of a new route for the valorization of microalgal biomass including protein and biofuels recovery is presented. The study involved consecutive steps of soluble protein extraction using alkaline conditions, followed by lipid extraction for biodiesel production. After both extraction processes, the spent biomass was used as feedstock for bio-oil production through pyrolysis at 500°C. The results were compared with pyrolysis using whole microalgal biomass and lignocellulosic feedstock. The new route allowed getting 10% of solubilized protein and only 2% of biodiesel (relative to the total biomass). Bio-oil yield obtained using spent Botryococcusbraunii was 33.2%. Higher bio-oil yields were obtained from whole Nannochloropsisgaditana (38.3%), whole B. braunii (39.7%) and pine wood (39.9%). Related to bio-oil characteristics, several protein-derived compounds were identified in bio-oil from spent B. braunii biomass. Therefore, the reduction of these compounds in bio-oil should be a critical target for further research. In addition, considering the low biodiesel production yield, lipid extraction from biomass could be avoided. This would increase lipid derived compounds in bio-oil, improving its heating value. Finally, unlike lignocellulosic biomass derived bio-oil, microalgae bio-oil showed a neutral pH, preventing possible corrosion problems in combustion engines.

Study on the conversion of cyanobacteria of Taihu Lake water blooms to biofuels

A large amount of cyanobacteria of water blooms pose a considerable threat to the water ecological balance, as well as human health, which are intractable to deal with. The objective of this paper is to utilize cyanobacteria of water blooms in Taihu Lake (CTL) as bioenergy resource to obtain fuel precursors, and simultaneously provide a way to mitigate the environmental burdens of Taihu Lake. The conversion of CTL collected in 2010 summer to biofuels via direct pyrolysis, catalytic pyrolysis and transesterification was studied. The yield of organic bio-oil from direct pyrolysis (BODP) was 32.3 wt%, and 28.3% of the BODP were aromatic compounds. The catalytic pyrolysis over HZSM-5 produced 30.5 wt% organic bio-oil (BOCP), in which there were lower nitrogenous compound content (33.7% vs. 40.6%), lower oxygenic compound content (21.2% vs. 27.3%), and higher aromatic content (43.4% vs. 28.3%) compared to BODP, and the heat value of BOCP was as high as 32.60 MJ kg−1. The results demonstrate that the use of CTL, a potential environmental threat, to produce value-added fuel is an applicable approach to generate fuel precursors, especially via catalytic pyrolysis. The result might be helpful to find a possible strategy for use of byproducts of green tide as feedstock for bio-oil production, which should be beneficial for environmental protection and renewable energy development.

Production of Bio-oil from Algal Biomass and Its Up-gradation: Recent Developments

AbstractAlgae, particularly microalgae are getting strong ground as a potential and environment friendly feedstock for biodiesel production in recent years due to its high growth rate (biomass yield) and high lipid content in some species. In the present paper the potential of algae as a feedstock for bio-oil production has been described. Mechanistic approach and optimum conditions for the algal growth as well as bio-oil production has been explained. Performance of various types of photo bioreactors has been critically analyzed to select suitable route for algal growth. Conventional methods such as mechanical and chemical extraction processes for the production of bio-oil form algal biomass have been described along with recent developments including supercritical extraction and microwave assisted processes. Various processes and catalysts for the up-gradation of bio-oil to biodiesel along with recent developments have also been described and compared. Effects of catalyst properties on the up-gradation of bio-oil have been critically analyzed for designing more efficient catalyst and consequently to improve the efficiency of the up-gradation process. Production of drop-in bio-fuel through hydrotreating of bio-oil is described. World scenario on the production of bio-fuel from algal biomass has also been provided.

Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Macroalgae Enteromorpha prolifera to Bio-oil

Marine macroalgae Enteromorpha prolifera, one of the main algae genera for green tide, was converted to bio-oil by hydrothermal liquefaction in a batch reactor at temperatures of 220−320 °C. The liquefaction products were separated into a dichloromethane-soluble fraction (bio-oil), water-soluble fraction, solid residue, and gaseous fraction. Effects of the temperature, reaction time, and Na2CO3 catalyst on the yields of liquefaction products were investigated. A moderate temperature of 300 °C with 5 wt % Na2CO3 and reaction time of 30 min led to the highest bio-oil yield of 23.0 wt %. The raw algae and liquefaction products were analyzed using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (GC−MS), and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The higher heating values (HHVs) of bio-oils obtained at 300 °C were around 28−30 MJ/kg. The bio-oil was a complex mixture of ketones, aldehydes, phenols, alkenes, fatty acids, esters, aromatics, and nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds. Acetic acid was the main component of the water-soluble products. The results might be helpful to find a possible strategy for use of byproducts of green tide as feedstock for bio-oil production, which should be beneficial for environmental protection and renewable energy development.