There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

This paper provides an updated review on fast pyrolysis of biomass for production of a liquid usually referred to as bio-oil. The technology of fast pyrolysis is described including the major reaction systems. The primary liquid product is characterised by reference to the many properties that impact on its use. These properties have caused increasingly extensive research to be undertaken to address properties that need modification and this area is reviewed in terms of physical, catalytic and chemical upgrading. Of particular note is the increasing diversity of methods and catalysts and particularly the complexity and sophistication of multi-functional catalyst systems. It is also important to see more companies involved in this technology area and increased take-up of evolving upgrading processes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass and product upgrading

This critical review provides a survey illustrated by recent references of different strategies to achieve a sustainable conversion of biomass to bioproducts. Because of the huge number of chemical products that can be potentially manufactured, a selection of starting materials and targeted chemicals has been done. Also, thermochemical conversion processes such as biomass pyrolysis or gasification as well as the synthesis of biofuels were not considered. The synthesis of chemicals by conversion of platform molecules obtained by depolymerisation and fermentation of biopolymers is presently the most widely envisioned approach. Successful catalytic conversion of these building blocks into intermediates, specialties and fine chemicals will be examined. However, the platform molecule value chain is in competition with well-optimised, cost-effective synthesis routes from fossil resources to produce chemicals that have already a market. The literature covering alternative value chains whereby biopolymers are converted in one or few steps to functional materials will be analysed. This approach which does not require the use of isolated, pure chemicals is well adapted to produce high tonnage products, such as paper additives, paints, resins, foams, surfactants, lubricants, and plasticisers. Another objective of the review was to examine critically the green character of conversion processes because using renewables as raw materials does not exempt from abiding by green chemistry principles (368 references).

Conversion of biomass to selected chemical products

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

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/78793/1/Progress%20in%20chemical-looping%20combustion%20and%20ref....2012.pdf

Progress in chemical-looping combustion and reforming technologies

Bio-oil, the unavoidable liquid product of the thermal conversion of biomass, shows high contents of carbon and aromatic compounds and is a promising carbon precursor. Herein, nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbons (NHPCs) as effective catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen are successfully synthesized from crude bio-oil through a one-step ZnCl2-based template method. The optimized obtained carbon exhibits favorable electrochemical catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, with a halfwave potential (E1/2) of −0.158 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte. It not only shows comparable activity to a commercial Pt/C catalyst (E1/2 = −0.148 V), but also better long-term stability and methanol resistance ability. The relationship between the structure and chemical properties of carbons and their catalytic performance is comprehensively analyzed. The results show that the high contents of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen species are responsible for the high activity, while the large specific surface area (up to 920.58 m2 g−1) and rational micro/meso/macroporous structure guarantee the sufficient exposure of active sites and mass transport efficiency. This work provides a facile and low-cost approach to efficient utilization of crude bio-oil as a renewable carbon precursor for NHPCs for electrochemical catalysis.

Efficient utilization of crude bio-oil: the synthesis of nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Catalytic hydroprocessing of stubborn lignin in supercritical methanol with Cu/CuMgAlOx catalyst

Olefin-rich gasoline-range hydrocarbons from oligomerization of bio-syngas over Ni/ASA catalyst

The pyrolysis and ignition of wood is of great importance to understand the initial stage of combustion, helping control the occurrence and spread of unwanted building and forestry fires. The development of a thermal-balanced model is introduced for examining the analytical relationship between the ignition time and external heat flux. The critical heat flux, one of the important fire-retardant characteristics of combustible solid, is determined from a correlation study between the ignition time and external heat flux. One of the thermal-balanced integral models, considering the effect of surface heat losses, average absorptivity and moisture content, is employed to give the prediction of surface temperature rise, ignition time and ignition temperature of the Aspen. The results show that the model readily and satisfactorily predicts ignition temperature and ignition time of wood with different moisture contents.

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Rui Xiao

Papers

Efficient utilization of crude bio-oil: the synthesis of nitrogen-doped hierarchically porous carbon as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Catalytic hydroprocessing of stubborn lignin in supercritical methanol with Cu/CuMgAlOx catalyst

Olefin-rich gasoline-range hydrocarbons from oligomerization of bio-syngas over Ni/ASA catalyst

Thermal-balanced integral model for pyrolysis and ignition of wood

The applicability of catalytic esterified biomass-pyrolysis-oil surrogates in diesel engine