(667e) Refined Chemicals and Carbonaceous Materials Derived from Biomass Pyrolysis

Global economic and environmental conditions have prompted the pursuit of alternatives to petroleum and coal-derived fuels and chemicals. The transition from fossil fuels to biofuels has relatively clear paths; however, a transition to biobased chemicals contains significantly more ambiguities, since specific pathways to produce many critical “drop-in chemicals” or “drop-in solvents” are unknown. Fast pyrolysis of biomass, when optimized, produces a bio-oil amenable towards many different separations and refining processes. In this talk, I will discuss recent advances in downstream refining of pyrolysis bio-oils. Advanced pyrolysis processes produce oils with sufficient quality (O < 15 wt%) for use in separations processes that were otherwise infeasible. Our laboratory and bench-scale continuous processes for bio-oil separations, such as distillation and extraction, will be reviewed. Second, the distillates can convert into fuels directly with simple catalysts and/or minimal processing. Third, when distilled, the bio-oils produce a solid residue that can be further heat treated into calcined coke, an electrically conductive material that is of critical use by the aluminum industry. I will review our lab’s progress in both material quality improvement and process design and scale-up.