(215e) Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Bio-Oil Components | AIChE

(215e) Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Bio-Oil Components

Authors 

Park, K. E. - Presenter, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yiacoumi, S., Georgia Institute of Technology
Tsouris, C., Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Borole, A. P., Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Increases in the world population and energy demand have raised the importance of developing sustainable energy resources. Utilizing bio-oil (pyrolysis oil) from biomass may alleviate global energy problems; however, wide applications of bio-oil are hampered by difficulties in attaining usable, high-quality bio-oil. Particularly, separating the aqueous phase and water-soluble compounds from crude bio-oil has not been effective. Bio-oil has high moisture content, low pH, high viscosity, and low heating value. Liquid-liquid extraction has been investigated in this work as a method to effectively separate the aqueous and organic phases of bio-oil. The effects of pH, ionic strength, and volume ratio of aqueous solutions used in liquid extraction on the separation of water and water-soluble species from bio-oil are being investigated. Results thus far show that, as the ionic strength of the aqueous solution is increased, more acidic compounds are selectively extracted from the bio-oil. This is desirable, as acidic components are utilized downstream for hydrogen production in bio-electrochemical cells. Results from a wide range of experimental variables will be reported. Furthermore, liquid-liquid extraction experiments using a centrifugal contactor for selected experimental conditions of volume ratio, pH, and ionic strength of the aqueous phase will be presented.

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