Characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin pyrolysis

Climate change 2014 - Synthesis Report

Sustainable Development Goals

A review on the utilization of fly ash

and Fuels Changzhi Li,† Xiaochen Zhao,† Aiqin Wang,† George W. Huber,†,‡ and Tao Zhang*,† †State Key Laborotary of Catalysis, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China ‡Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States

Catalytic Transformation of Lignin for the Production of Chemicals and Fuels

As the oil reserves are depleting the need of an alternative fuel source is becoming increasingly apparent. One prospective method for producing fuels in the future is conversion of biomass into bio-oil and then upgrading the bio-oil over a catalyst, this method is the focus of this review article. Bio-oil production can be facilitated through flash pyrolysis, which has been identified as one of the most feasible routes. The bio-oil has a high oxygen content and therefore low stability over time and a low heating value. Upgrading is desirable to remove the oxygen and in this way make it resemble crude oil. Two general routes for bio-oil upgrading have been considered: hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and zeolite cracking. HDO is a high pressure operation where hydrogen is used to exclude oxygen from the bio-oil, giving a high grade oil product equivalent to crude oil. Catalysts for the reaction are traditional hydrodesulphurization (HDS) catalysts, such as Co–MoS2/Al2O3, or metal catalysts, as for example Pd/C. However, catalyst lifetimes of much more than 200 h have not been achieved with any current catalyst due to carbon deposition. Zeolite cracking is an alternative path, where zeolites, e.g. HZSM-5, are used as catalysts for the deoxygenation reaction. In these systems hydrogen is not a requirement, so operation is performed at atmospheric pressure. However, extensive carbon deposition results in very short catalyst lifetimes. Furthermore a general restriction in the hydrogen content of the bio-oil results in a low H/C ratio of the oil product as no additional hydrogen is supplied. Overall, oil from zeolite cracking is of a low grade, with heating values approximately 25% lower than that of crude oil. Of the two mentioned routes, HDO appears to have the best potential, as zeolite cracking cannot produce fuels of acceptable grade for the current infrastructure. HDO is evaluated as being a path to fuels in a grade and at a price equivalent to present fossil fuels, but several tasks still have to be addressed within this process. Catalyst development, understanding of the carbon forming mechanisms, understanding of the kinetics, elucidation of sulphur as a source of deactivation, evaluation of the requirement for high pressure, and sustainable sources for hydrogen are all areas which have to be elucidated before commercialisation of the process.

A review of catalytic upgrading of bio-oil to engine fuels

Oxy-fuel combustion of solid fuels

Fuel nitrogen conversion in solid fuel fired systems

Four groups of catalysts have been tested for hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenol as a model compound of bio-oil, including oxide catalysts, methanol synthesis catalysts, reduced noble metal catalysts, and reduced non-noble metal catalysts. In total, 23 different catalysts were tested at 100 bar H2 and 275 °C in a batch reactor. The experiments showed that none of the tested oxides or methanol synthesis catalysts had any significant activity for phenol HDO under the given conditions, which were linked to their inability to hydrogenate the aromatic ring of phenol. HDO of phenol over reduced metal catalysts could effectively be described by a kinetic model involving a two-step reaction in which phenol initially was hydrogenated to cyclohexanol and then subsequently deoxygenated to cyclohexane. Among reduced noble metal catalysts, ruthenium, palladium, and platinum were all found to be active, with activity decreasing in that order. Nickel was the only active non-noble metal catalyst. For nickel, the effect o...

Anker Degn Jensen

Papers

A review of catalytic upgrading of bio-oil to engine fuels

Oxy-fuel combustion of solid fuels

Fuel nitrogen conversion in solid fuel fired systems

Screening of Catalysts for Hydrodeoxygenation of Phenol as a Model Compound for Bio-oil

Catalytic steam reforming of bio-oil