(60cx) Heterogeneous Catalysts Role in the Upgrading of Liquid, Intermediate Biocrudes Produced from Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Thermo-chemical conversion of biomass has proven to be a viable technique to produce bio-fuels. Among them, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of micro algae to produce biocrude oils has gained attention in the past decade due to numerous benefits of algae biomass. Despite higher oil yields, the biocrude oil is still considered to be an intermediate product because of its higher hetero atom (N,S,O), Total Acid Number (TAN) content, and viscosity. This creates a challenge in the process of blending the biocrude with petroleum crude and subsequent distillation/product separation due to catalyst deactivation. The current work employed using three different catalysts (MO₂C, HZSM-5, and Pt/C) to upgrade the hydro-thermally produced algal biocrude oil. The influence of upgrading efficiency was tested with respect to temperatures (350-400 C) and catalyst to oil solid ratio (w/w). The upgraded results indicated a decrease in O/C, N/C ratio and increase in H/C ratio in comparison with the original biocrude oil. The upgraded oils were also analyzed by GC mass spectometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy for detailed molecular composition. Thermogravimetric and elemental analysis of the oils were performed and they also showed a decrease in the TAN value and increase in higher heating value HHV (~42MJ/kg).