(323d) Commercializing Pyrolysis Oil Into Motor Fuels Leveraging the Existing Refining Infrastructure

Fast pyrolysis of biomass shows considerable promise as a conversion route for converting lignocellulosic biomass into fungible motor fuels. Unlike other biomass conversion routes that produce a gaseous or sugar intermediate, pyrolysis produces a liquid intermediate that could potentially be processed at an existing petroleum refinery into conventional motor fuels synergistic with conventional crude oil refining. Processing pyrolysis oil at conventional refineries would significantly reduce costs of processing and facilitate the rapid transition into the market place. However, raw pyrolysis oil has numerous qualities which will prevent it from being processed at conventional refineries such as its corrosiveness, insolubility in hydrocarbons and thermal and temporal instability. Because of these characteristics, raw pyrolysis oils must be upgraded before they would be acceptable to enter a refinery for further processing into conventional motor fuels.

Raw pyrolysis oils typically contain up to 40% oxygen and this high oxygen content is linked to many of the undesirable properties of pyrolysis oils, hence oxygen removal is critical. A detailed market assessment and experimental program has been undertaken to address the challenges of introducing pyrolysis oils into conventional refineries from both a technical and cost barrier perspective. This study looked at various intermediate oxygen levels to determine the physical and chemical properties and the processing costs associated with achieving these intermediate states. Several scenarios were identified where an initial state processing to approximately 10% oxygen would be sufficient to allow entry into a conventional refinery for ultimate processing to conventional motor fuels at approximately 0.2% oxygen. This two stage processing maximizes the advantages of economies of scales and existing infrastructure utilization. Results of this program will be shown that indicate that this approach shows considerable promise for producing conventional motor fuels from biomass at costs highly competitive with petroleum derived fuels.