Liquefaction, biomass

Liquefaction. Siace the 1970s attempts have been made to commercialize biomass pyrolysis for combiaed waste disposal—Hquid fuels production. None of these plants were ia use ia 1992 because of operating difficulties and economic factors only one type of biomass Hquefaction process, alcohohc fermentation for ethanol, is used commercially for the production of Hquid fuels. 

Thermochemical Liquefaction. Most of the research done since 1970 on the direct thermochemical Hquefaction of biomass has been concentrated on the use of various pyrolytic techniques for the production of Hquid fuels and fuel components (96,112,125,166,167). Some of the techniques investigated are entrained-flow pyrolysis, vacuum pyrolysis, rapid and flash pyrolysis, ultrafast pyrolysis in vortex reactors, fluid-bed pyrolysis, low temperature pyrolysis at long reaction times, and updraft fixed-bed pyrolysis. Other research has been done to develop low cost, upgrading methods to convert the complex mixtures formed on pyrolysis of biomass to high quaHty transportation fuels, and to study Hquefaction at high pressures via solvolysis, steam—water treatment, catalytic hydrotreatment, and noncatalytic and catalytic treatment in aqueous systems. 

Supercritical fluid solvents have been tested for reactive extractions of liquid and gaseous fuels from heavy oils, coal, oil shale, and biomass. In some cases the solvent participates in the reactions, as in the hydrolysis of coal and heavy oils with water. Related applications include conversion of cellulose to glucose in water, dehgnincation of wood with ammonia, and liquefaction of lignin in water. 

Modell, M., Gasification and liquefaction of forest products in supercritical water. In Fundamentals of Thermochemical Biomass Conversion, Overend, R. P. Milne, T. A., Eds., Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, London, 1985, pp. 95-119. 

Thermochemical conversion processes use heat in an oxygen controlled environment that produce chemical changes in the biomass. The process can produce electricity, gas, methanol and other products. Gasification, pyrolysis, and liquefaction are thermochemical methods for converting biomass into energy. 

Pyrolysis and liquefaction processes take an intermediate position in the sense that they maintain some larger molecular characteristics. Pyrolysis is a process in which the biomass material is quickly heated. The thermal cracking process, de-polymerizes waste or dry biomass and produces a liquid of complex composition (Fig. 1.17). 

Liquefaction of wet biomass streams is done by hydrothermal processes at elevated pressures. The feed stocks for these high pressure liquefaction processes are slurries of biomass particles and water. Feeding these slurries into the high pressure equipment, at reasonable costs, is an important hurdle in the process development. For example, the reported operating conditions for high pressure liquefaction are in the range 280-360 °C and 90-250 bar [25, 26]. Under these conditions, biomass is converted, in a complex sequence of chemical reactions, into various compounds. Upon cooling, the reactor effluent consists of three... 

Beckman, D., Elliott, D.C., Comparisons of the yields and properties of the oil products from direct thermochemical biomass liquefaction processes, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 1985, 63, 99. 

Biomass includes 60% wood and 40% non-wood materials. The conversion of wood into biofuels andbiochemicals is technically feasible. Wood valorization processes include fractionation, liquefaction, pyrolysis, hydrolysis, fermentation and gasification. 

Demirbas, A. 2000. Mechanism of liquefaction and pyrolysis reactions of biomass. Energy Con-vers Manage 41 633 6. 

Over the past two decades, considerable interest has been directed toward the conversion of cellulosic biomass (such materials as wood wastes, bagasse, and straw) into useful products, notably fuels. Several procedures, including fermentation, gasification, liquefaction, and pyrolysis, have been commercially applied to carbohydrates with various degrees of success. In order to use the polysaccharides present in lignocel-lulosic materials as a substrate in fermentation processes, pretreatments are necessary, such as with steam (under slightly acid conditions) or... 

A modification of the pyrolysis process, developed by Hoppe-Seyler in 1871, involved the addition of water and alkali to biomass which was converted into oil, gas, water-soluble components, and carbonaceous material. " The addition of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the liquefaction process allowed the production of liquid fuels from biomass. Asphalt substitutes have also been prepared from biomass under liquefaction conditions. ... 

Liquid fuels have a high energy density, and the widest applicability of all fuel forms, but a low efficiency of conversion from biomass. It is therefore necessary to compare liquefaction with the more efficient processes of direct burning and gasification as alternative modes of use of the biomass. 

The potential of biomass to substitute for petroleum is examined in terms of resource availability and cost, conversion technology, and conversion and end-use costs. The most energy-efficient and least costly mode of utilization of wood is direct burning, followed by gasification, and, last, liquefaction. 

The development of new syngas-based processes is one of the objectives for the near future, despite the current low price of oil. Syngas can be produced from various carbonaceous sources, including coal, heavy residue, biomass and gas, the latter being the most economical and abundant feedstock. Chemical valorization of natural or associated gas is a priority objective, since liquefaction of remote gas via alcohol synthesis permits convenient shipping to markets not directly connected to the gas source by pipeline. 

Liquefaction. Figure 21 outlines most of the biomass liquefaction methods under development. There are essentially three basic types of biomass liquefaction technologies, ie, fermentation, natural, and thermochemical processes. 

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