Biomass liquid hydrocarbon fuels from

Elliott, D.C., Schiefelbein, G.F., Liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass, Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel. Chem., 1989, 34, 1160. 

See, for instance J. E. Sanderson, D. L. Wise and D. G. Augenstein, "Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels from Aquatic Biomass , Paper No. 27 presented at the Second Annual Fuels from Biomass Symposium, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York (June 20-22, 1978). 

Both the production of hydrogen from coal and the production of oil from unconventional resources (oil sands, oil shale, CTL, GTL) result in high C02 emissions and substantially increase the carbon footprint of fuel supply, unless the C02 is captured and stored. While the capture of C02 at a central point source is equally possible for unconventionals and centralised hydrogen production, in the case of hydrogen, a C02-free fuel results, unlike in the case of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. This is all the more important, as around 80% of the WTW C02 emissions result from the fuel use in the vehicles. If CCS were applied to hydrogen production from biomass, a net C02 removal from the atmosphere would even be achievable. 

Ligno-cellulosic biomass is a resource from which liquid hydrocarbon fuels potentially may be derived. Pyrolyzing the wood yields gas and liquid products, but a relatively large percentage of the original wood carbon can be lost to a low value char by-product. Furthermore, like the model oxygenates described above, the EHI of the pyrolysis liquid products is substantially less than 1. 

For compression ignition engines the most promising fuels include highly reformulated diesel fuel with virtually no sulfur liquid hydrocarbons derived from natural gas diesel fuels blended with specific oxygenate components alcohols derived from biomass or natural gas possibly blended with some... 

Among liquid fuels (XTL), only biomass-derived hydrocarbons (BTL) are a relevant option from the perspective of lowering GHG emissions not so other fossil-based liquids (CTL, GTL). Even if CTL fuel supply paths were upgraded by carbon capture and storage, the resulting specific CCF-equivalent emissions would only be reduced to the level of conventional gasoline or diesel energy chains. 

Elliot, D.C., Baker, E.G., Hydrotreating biomass liquids to produce hydrocarbon fuels, In Klass, D.L. (ed.), 1987, Energy from Biomass and Waste, publ. IGT, Chicago, p. 765. 

Since late 2007, the Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley has been the center for cooperation between scientists from the University of California and the Agricultural Department of the University of Illinois for the production of fuels from so-called energy crops like switch grass. In this second-generation biofuel project that is financed over a 10-year period with 500 million by oil company BP, biomass is converted with the help of synthetic catalysts, for example, organometallic compounds, in a special solvent medium, better known as ionic liquids, into hydrocarbons with properties close to automotive fuels. 

The FTS converts synthesis gas into mostly liquid hydrocarbons [12-15]. Depending on the origin of the synthesis gas, the overall process from carbon feedstock to liquid product is called gas-to-liquids (GTL), coal to liquids (CTL), or biomass to liquids (BTL). The product spectrum, however, is broader than liquid hydrocarbons alone and can include methane and alkanes, C H2 +2 (with n from 1 — 100), alkenes or olefins (C H2 n > 2), and to a lesser extent, oxygenated products such as alcohols. Hence the FTS offers the opportunity to convert gas, coal, or biomass-derived syngas into transportation fuels, such as gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel oil, and chemicals, such as olefins, naphtha, and waxes. The reactions need a catalyst, which in commercial applications is either based on cobalt or iron. 

With ever increasing requirements for clean transportation fuels and liquid hydrocarbon supplies, there is an opportunity to produce significant quantities of synthetic ultra-clean fuels that are essentially sulfur-free. These synthetic fuels can be produced from natural gas, coal, petroleum coke, biomass, and other non-traditional hydrocarbon sources. Most of these products are fungible and compatible with current products and distribution infrastructure and can be produced at costs competitive with conventional crude oil-derived products under certain market conditions. 

Synthetic liquid fuels Renewably produced hydrogen again provides the dominant transport fuel. In this case, however, it is packaged in the form of a synthetic liquid hydrocarbon, such as methanol, to overcome the difficulties of hydrogen storage and distribution. The carbon for fuel synthesis comes from biomass and from the flue gases of carbon-intensive industries. 

Given that biomass can be converted to a liquid product that is primarily phenolic, then oxygen removal and molecular weight reduction are necessary to produce usable hydrocarbon fuels. Upgrading biomass-derived oils differs from processing petroleum fractions or coal liquids because of the importance of deoxygenation. This topic has received only limited attention in the literature (6-11). 

Elliott, D. C. and E. G. Baker. "Hydrotreating Biomass Liquids to Produce Hydrocarbon Fuels," in Energy from Biomass and Wastes X, IGT, Chicago, 1987 p 765-784. 

Estimates for emissions from anthropogenic sources of hydrocarbons fall in the range 70-180 Tg yr . Three types of sources are most important The production of liquid fuels from petroleum and road traffic contributes about 54% in developed countries and 36% worldwide. Solvent use adds another 15%. The third major source is biomass burning, which contributes 34% on a global scale (16% in developed countries). About 45%of the emissions are alkanes, 35% are alkenes, and 17% are aromatic compounds. 

The surfactant industry of the future will continue to face many challenges. Commodity snrfac-tants will continue to be driven by cost and environmental safety. The market will demand reliable low-cost supply and environmental acceptance. New surfactant technology will be a portion of the future revolution in surfactants. This innovation will likely come from gas to liqnids (GTL ) technology and catalyst/process breakthrough such as those already demonstrated by Sasol. GTL is the general process name for conversion of natural gas, coal, biomass, or other carbon-containing raw materials to higher liquid hydrocarbons, and more specifically to naphtha, jet/diesel, and diesel fuel. 

The products of the Fischer-Tropsch reactions are a mixture of hydrocarbons, because a wide range of values for n can be used as coefficients in this reaction. As previously mentioned, Fischer-Tropsch has primarily been used for converting coal to liquid fuels, but the principle could be used for conversion of biomass as well. SASOL, a company in South Africa, has been producing liquid fuels from coal for over 30 years. 

Our earlier research established a chemical process (Figure 6) for the production of various hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals ft om biomass polysaccharides (21,22,23). Two steps are required to complete the process from polyols. Polyols are converted into mainly liquid hydrocarbons by reduction with boiling hydriodic acid. Hydrocarbons phase separate and the aqueous acid is recycled. Step 2 converts remaining halocarbons into aikenes. An electrochemical regeneration of the primary reducing solution provides an economically improved process and is e subject of another patent application. 

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