TY - JOUR
T1 - Catalytic upgrading of hydrothermal liquefaction biocrudes
T2 - Different challenges for different feedstocks
AU - Castello, Daniele
AU - Haider, Muhammad Salman
AU - Rosendahl, Lasse Aistrup
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) followed by catalytic hydrotreating of the produced biocrude is increasingly gaining ground as an effective technology for the conversion of biomass into liquid biofuels. A strong advantage of HTL resides in its great flexibility towards the feedstock, since it is able to treat a large number of different organic substrates, ranging from dry to wet residual biomass. Nevertheless, the characteristics of biocrudes from different typologies of organic materials result in different challenges to be met during the hydrotreating step, leading to differences in heteroatoms removal and in the typology and composition of the targeted products. In this work, biocrudes were catalytically hydrotreated with a commercial NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst at different temperatures and pressures. Sewage sludge biocrude was found to be very promising for the production of straight-chain hydrocarbons in the diesel range, with considerable heteroatoms removal even at mild hydrotreating conditions. Similar results were shown by algal biocrude, although complete denitrogenation is challenging. Upgraded biocrudes from lignocellulosic feedstock (miscanthus) showed high yields in the gasoline range, with a remarkable content of aromatics. Operating at a higher H2 pressure was found to be crucial to prevent coking and decarboxylation reactions.
AB - Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) followed by catalytic hydrotreating of the produced biocrude is increasingly gaining ground as an effective technology for the conversion of biomass into liquid biofuels. A strong advantage of HTL resides in its great flexibility towards the feedstock, since it is able to treat a large number of different organic substrates, ranging from dry to wet residual biomass. Nevertheless, the characteristics of biocrudes from different typologies of organic materials result in different challenges to be met during the hydrotreating step, leading to differences in heteroatoms removal and in the typology and composition of the targeted products. In this work, biocrudes were catalytically hydrotreated with a commercial NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst at different temperatures and pressures. Sewage sludge biocrude was found to be very promising for the production of straight-chain hydrocarbons in the diesel range, with considerable heteroatoms removal even at mild hydrotreating conditions. Similar results were shown by algal biocrude, although complete denitrogenation is challenging. Upgraded biocrudes from lignocellulosic feedstock (miscanthus) showed high yields in the gasoline range, with a remarkable content of aromatics. Operating at a higher H2 pressure was found to be crucial to prevent coking and decarboxylation reactions.
KW - Catalytic hydrotreating
KW - Drop-in fuels
KW - Hydrothermal liquefaction
KW - Nitrogen-containing compounds
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064452571&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.003
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85064452571
SN - 0960-1481
VL - 141
SP - 420
EP - 430
JO - Renewable Energy
JF - Renewable Energy
ER -