Abstract
This article reviews the hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass with the aim of describing the current status of the technology. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a medium-temperature, high-pressure thermochemical process, which produces a liquid product, often called bio-oil or bi-crude. During the hydrothermal liquefaction process, the macromolecules of the biomass are first hydrolyzed and/or degraded into smaller molecules. Many of the produced molecules are unstable and reactive and can recombine into larger ones. During this process, a substantial part of the oxygen in the biomass is removed by dehydration or decarboxylation. The chemical properties of bio-oil are highly dependent of the biomass substrate composition. Biomass constitutes of various components such as protein; carbohydrates, lignin and fat, and each of them produce distinct spectra of compounds during hydrothermal liquefaction. In spite of the potential for hydrothermal production of renewable fuels, only a few hydrothermal technologies have so far gone beyond lab- or bench-scale.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Energy |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 5 |
Pages (from-to) | 2328-2342 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISSN | 0360-5442 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- Hydrothermal liquefaction
- Biomass conversion
- Bio-oil