Advantage s

Introduction

HTL

Catalysts

Environment

References

Feedstocks

Hydrothermal FET 570 Liquefaction

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Energy and Environment Interaction and Sustainability Sercan zeren 30.05.2012

Formation of Oil, Gas and Coal

Fossil fuels found in nature are based on biogenic hypothesis

This occurs through thermochemical conversion of biomass burried underneath the ground and subjected to millions of 5/31/12 years of high pressure and

Thermochemical Conversion

TCC is a chemical reforming process of biomass in a heated and usually pressurised, oxygen deprived enclosure, where long chain organic compunds(solid biomass) break into short-chain hydrocarbons such as syngas or oil

TCC includes

Gasificatio n

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Producing H2 + CO: syngas from dried

Hydrothermal Liqefaction

HTL has two pathways:

Direct conversion of biomass

Biomass with little lignocellulosic fraction: waste from animal, human and food industry

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Pretreatment of biomass and then fermentation

Celluslosic feedstocks

Conversion of Biomass

Wet biomass slurry is fed into a HTL reactor which is at ~<400 oC and ~14 MPa Temperature incrase in the reactor is provided by heating Pressure is due to steam produced by water inside the slurry

Biogenic reactions occur in the reactor and solids 5/31/12 produced in reactor are disposed out

Conversion of Biomass

Water is will not likely to react with organic matter under standard environenmental conditions. With the increase in temperature of water:

Dielectric constant of water decreases: H2O molecules become more non-polar (4 times) and affinitive to organic materials

Dissociation of water 5/31/12 increase: H2O molecules more split (500 times) into

Feedstocks for HTL

Main feedstocks include:

Crop residues and wood,

Primarily include lignocellulose

Food processing waste and animal manure,

Contains lipids, proteins and usually small amounts of lignocellulose(except ruminant animal manure)

Algae

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Advantages of HTL Over Other TCCs

The end product is crude oil which has a much higher energy content than syngas and alcohol compared to other TCC processes If the feedstock contains a low of water, HTL does not require drying and gasification and pyrolysis On the other hand the energy used up in the heating of feedstock in HTL process can be recovered effectively

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Catalysts Used in HTL

The aim of the usage of catalyst in HTL is to improve the yield and heating values of crude oil produced

Alkali catalysts used to limit the amount of secondary reactions of the oil pahse to char production

Salts and bases: CaCO3, Ca(OH)2, NaOH, HCOONa, NaCl, K2CO3, KOH, HCOOK triggered 50% heavy oil-like products RbOH, CsOH: Hindered the formation of char

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Also, some other catalysts used to favor the production of gas pahses

Pollution due to Biomass

Liquid and solid animal wastes, sewage sludge, and municipal wastes generate considerable gas and odor, harbor disease, and contribute to enviorenmental problems Wood wastes accumulate in landfillsand cause storage problems These problems result in waste spent money in transportation, storage and treatment with no benefit

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Sample Data

Theoretically, bomass has the capacity to provide 100% of the worlds energy requirement Current production approaches and use of biomass for energy are not sustainable

Biomass fuels used in 5/31/12 sustainable manner will result in no net

According to a research in Lousina State, oil production through HTL with only animal manure would provide the energy need of ~48K homes or would make available ~24K gals of oil production

Synergistic Wastewater Treatment

Hydrothermal liquefaction has also advantages in terms of water treatment, Its robust reaction conditions and aqueous environement make hydrothermal liquefaction well-suited for the conversion of low lipid, fast growing algae that poliferate in wastewater treatment facilities, These algae capture and utilize dissolved nitrogen and phosporous in wastewater and if not used would be released to the environment

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References

Biofuels from agricultural wastes and byproducts, Zhang Y 2010 ., Assessing a hydrothermal liquefaction process using biomass feedstocks, Midgett J. S., 2005 Hydrothermal liquefaction: A route to improved bio-oils, NABC, 2011 http://algae.illinois.edu/Projects/Hydrothermal.h tml

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