Biomass Pyrolysis and Bio-Oil Utilization

Transportation fuel is the second largest energy consumption in the United States. Each year over 200 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel are consumed for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. Currently the dominating alternative biofuels in the market are ethanol for gasoline and biodiesel for diesel, respectively. Ethanol is currently produced from corn starch in the United States. The growth of corn needs tractors, fertilizers and pesticides that are heavily dependent on petroleum. Therefore, corn ethanol does not greatly reduce the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the 18.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 361 18.2 Biomass Pyrolysis ................................................................................................................. 362 18.2.1 Principles and Processes of Biomass Pyrolysis ........................................................ 362 18.2.2 Biomass Pyrolysis Mechanisms and Kinetics .......................................................... 363 18.2.3 Pyrolysis Reactors..................................................................................................... 365 18.2.4 Fast Hydropyrolysis and Catalytic Pyrolysis ............................................................366 18.2.5 Case Studies of Biomass Pyrolysis ...........................................................................366 18.3 Bio-Oil Characterization ...................................................................................................... 367 18.3.1 Bio-Oil Chemical Compositions .............................................................................. 367 18.3.2 Bio-Oil Physical Properties ...................................................................................... 368 18.3.3 Bio-Oil Distillation Curves ...................................................................................... 369 18.3.4 Bio-Oil Stability ....................................................................................................... 370 18.4 Upgrading Bio-Oil into Transportation Fuels ...................................................................... 371 18.4.1 Esterication ............................................................................................................. 371 18.4.2 Hydrogenation ........................................................................................................... 372 18.4.3 Catalytic Cracking .................................................................................................... 372 18.4.4 Emulsication ........................................................................................................... 373 18.4.5 Distillation ................................................................................................................ 373 18.5 Other Bio-Oil Utilizations .................................................................................................... 374 18.5.1 Combustion for Heat and Power ............................................................................... 374 18.5.2 Chemicals Extracted from Bio-Oil ........................................................................... 374 18.5.3 Steam Reforming of Bio-Oil into Hydrogen ............................................................ 374 18.6 Life Cycle Assessment and Economic Analysis ................................................................... 375 18.6.1 Energy Efciency ..................................................................................................... 375 18.6.2 Cost of Biomass Pyrolysis ........................................................................................ 375 18.6.3 Life Cycle Assessment .............................................................................................. 377 18.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 377 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 378 References ...................................................................................................................................... 378