Upgrading bio-oil

Bio-oil upgrading over Ga modified zeolites in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor... 

The most commonly used bio-oil upgrading techniques can be categorized as (i) hydrodeoxygenation, (ii) emulsification, and (iii) steam reforming. 

Bio-oils could be blended with the conventional diesel fuels to be used as a transportation fuel. Since bio-oils are immiscible in hydrocarbons, they can be emulsified in presence of a surfactant. The viscosity and corrosiveness of emulsified bio-oils has been found to be much lower than that of crude bio-oil (Ikura et al., 2003). The high cost and energy input during emulsification are major factors for consideration in bio-oil upgrading. 

Yu, W., Tang, Y., Mo, L., Chen, P., Lou, H., Zheng, X., 2011a. One-step hydrogenation-esterification of furfural and acetic acid over bifunctional Pd catalysts for bio-oil upgrading. Bioresource Technology 102 (17), 8241—8246. 

The understanding of bio-oil upgrading via decarbonylation is quite limited. Aldehyde, ketone, and carboxylic acid deoxygenation have been studied using model compounds (Gayubo et al., 2004). This study highlighted that acetone (ketone) is less reactive than alcohols for the conversion into aromatics. Aldehyde and carboxylic acid decarbonylation resulted in increased coke formation compared to alcohol. 

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