Catalytic hydroprocessing of fast pyrolysis oils: Impact of biomass feedstock on process efficiency

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Biomass and Bioenergy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.09.012· OSTI ID:1335805

Carpenter, Daniel ^[1]; Westover, Tyler ^[2]; Howe, Daniel ^[3]; Deutch, Steve ^[1]; Starace, Anne ^[1]; Emerson, Rachel ^[2]; Hernandez, Sergio ^[2]; Santosa, Daniel ^[3]; Lukins, Craig ^[3]; Kutnyakov, Igor ^[3]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

We report here on an experimental study to produce refinery-ready fuel blendstocks via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (upgrading) of pyrolysis oil using several biomass feedstocks and various blends. Blends were tested along with the pure materials to determine the effect of blending on product yields and qualities. Within experimental error, oil yields from fast pyrolysis and upgrading are shown to be linear functions of the blend components. Switchgrass exhibited lower fast pyrolysis and upgrading yields than the woody samples, which included clean pine, oriented strand board (OSB), and a mix of piñon and juniper (PJ). The notable exception was PJ, for which the poor upgrading yield of 18% was likely associated with the very high viscosity of the PJ fast pyrolysis oil (947 cp). The highest fast pyrolysis yield (54% dry basis) was obtained from clean pine, while the highest upgrading yield (50%) was obtained from a blend of 80% clean pine and 20% OSB (CP8OSB2). For switchgrass, reducing the fast pyrolysis temperature to 450 °C resulted in a significant increase to the pyrolysis oil yield and reduced hydrogen consumption during hydrotreating, but did not directly affect the hydrotreating oil yield. The water content of fast pyrolysis oils was also observed to increase linearly with the summed content of potassium and sodium, ranging from 21% for clean pine to 37% for switchgrass. Multiple linear regression models demonstrate that fast pyrolysis is strongly dependent upon the contents lignin and volatile matter as well as the sum of potassium and sodium.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308; AC07-05ID14517; AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1335805
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1398045; OSTI ID: 1409695
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5100-66299; INL/JOU-16-40001
• Journal Information: Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 96; ISSN 0961-9534
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
biofuels
fast pyrolysis
catalytic hydrodeoxygenation
hydrotreating