Abstract
A consortium has been assembled to develop a new bio fuel chain from
renewable feeds to transportation fuels. The concept includes a distributed
procurement for biomass and centralized upgrading for derived fast pyrolysis
liquids. The project is aimed at developing a chain of process steps to allow
a range of biomass feedstocks to be co-fed to a conventional oil refinery to
produce energy and chemicals. This paper summarises some fundamental issues
related to this new concept. Fast pyrolysis liquids, or bio-oils, are complex
mixtures of oxygen containing compounds. Their high oxygen content is
responsible for high viscosity, poor thermal stability, low heating value and
corrosivity. These properties can be improved by partial or total elimination
of oxygen and hydrogenation of chemical structures. Hydrodeoxygenation
performed at high temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst is
proposed as an alternative for upgrading of bio-oils. After upgrading,
bio-oils should be co-fed to a conventional refinery. The viability is
evaluated by using lab-scale micro tests simulating hydrotreating and
catalytic cracking (FCC) units under standard operating conditions. Alumina
supported CoMo and NiMo catalysts were tested in the hydrotreating of a
straight run gas oil fraction. Total conversion of sulfur compounds was
achieved, even in the presence of oxygenated model compounds representative of
bio-oil. Preliminary co-processing study was also performed in simulated FCC
units. The performance of industrial FCC catalysts was evaluated by feeding
model hydrocarbons/oxygenates mixtures. The cracking reaction and the effect
of oxygenates is evaluated in terms of hydrocarbon conversion, product
distribution, and catalyst stability. Development of these and other unit
operations within the overall biofuel chain will continue.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 15th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |
MoE publication type | A4 Article in a conference publication |
Event | 15th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition - Berlin, Germany Duration: 7 May 2007 → 11 May 2007 Conference number: 15 |
Conference
Conference | 15th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition |
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Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Berlin |
Period | 7/05/07 → 11/05/07 |
Keywords
- bio-refinery
- co-processing
- biomass
- pyrolysis oils
- bio-oils
- upgrading
- hydrodeoxygenation
- hydrotreating
- sulfided catalysts