Engineering Commons^™

Transforming Corn Stover To Useful Transport Fuel Blends In Resource-Limited Settings, Nicholas Munu, Noble Banadda, Nicholas Kiggundu, Ahamada Zziwa, Isa Kabenge, Jeffrey Seay, Robert Kambugu, Joshua Wanyama, Albrecht Schmidt

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Development of local technologies is crucial to the sustainable energy agenda in resource-limited countries and the world. Strengthening local green technologies and promoting local utilization will reduce carbon emissions that could be generated during transportation and delivery of green products from one country to another. In this paper we developed bio-oil/diesel blends using a low-tech pyrolysis system designed for smallholder farmers in developing countries and tested their appropriateness for diesel engines using standard ASTM methods. Corn stover retrieved from smallholder farmers in Gayaza, Uganda were pyrolyzed in a batch rocket stove reactor at 350 °C and liquid bio-oil harvested. Bio-oil …

The Effect Of Moox Reducibility On Its Activity For Anisole Hydrodeoxygenation, Chantal Walker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a process for upgrading crude bio-oil as it has a high oxygen content which causes several undesirable properties. Current methods for HDO use sulfided NiMo and CoMo or supported noble metal catalysts which hydrogenate aromatic rings, leading to less valuable products and increasing the hydrogen consumption. Using 10 wt. % MoO3 supported on ZrO2, TiO2, γ-Al2O3, SiO2 and CeO2, we investigated the atmospheric HDO of anisole, a model compound, at 350 °C. All catalysts achieved C – O bond cleavage, preserving the aromatic ring. In situ UV-Vis spectroscopy showed a peak corresponding to intervalence charge transfer …

Development Of Technologies For High Value Products From Biomass Pyrolysis, Chiara Barbiero

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex. Steud. is an invasive perennial grass found in North America, which is rapidly spreading throughout Ontario, damaging the native ecosystem and endangering the wildlife. This infestation has caused a decrease in biodiversity and nutrient availability to the agricultural crops through competition. One of the most effective management practices is spading them, leaving a huge number of dead stalks that need to be disposed of. Pyrolysis was selected as an alternative thermochemical method to convert this feedstock to value-added bioproducts, such as bio-oil and biochar, and to produce valuable renewable chemicals from the pyrolysis oil, such …

Pyrolysis Of Miscanthus And Products Characterization, Arshdeep Singh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Miscanthus, an invasive crop, has recently gained attention as an emerging energy crop because of certain features such as adaptability to lower temperature, efficient use of water and nutrients, low or no need of nitrogen fertilizers, high biomass yield, fast growing cycle and less intensive agricultural cultivation practices than other energy crops, such as corn.

The literature review is focused on the value-added applications and conversion of Miscanthus for bioenergy and biomaterial applications. The thermochemical conversion technologies reviewed in this chapter include pyrolysis, liquefaction, torrefaction and gasification, whereas biochemical conversion technologies include enzymatic saccharification and fermentation.

In this work, …

Production Of Monomeric Aromatics/Phenolics From Hydrolysis Lignin (Hl) By Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis And Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Hooman Paysepar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bio-oil, produced from bio-feedstocks by thermochemical conversion technologies (e.g., pyrolysis or direct liquefaction), can be renewable replacement for petroleum for energy and chemical production. However, bio oil has high oxygen content, low stability, and low heating value. Thus, upgrading of bio-oil is necessary to remove the oxygen and make it a suitable substitute for conventional liquid transportation fuels or for value-added bio-based chemicals. Oxygen in a bio-oil can be removed by catalytic cracking or hydro-de-oxygenation to the form of H₂O, CO and CO₂ in the presence of a catalyst.

The overall objective of this PhD project was …

Production Of Bio-Oil With Different Oxygen Content And Characterization Of Catalytic Upgrading To Transportation Fuel, Mubarak Mohammed Khlewee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world’s increasing population requires an increase in transportation fuel production. The lack of production of transportation fuels due to the shortage of fossil fuel resources combined with concerns about global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion are the two major issues that have driven researchers to actively pursue alternative sources for oil production. Biomass is being considered as an alternative feedstock to produce fuel and chemicals due to its abundance and renewability. It has many features that make it suitable as a source of transportation fuel production. However, the bio-oil produced by the fast pyrolysis process has …

Catalytic Pyrolysis Of Poly Vinyl Chloride As A Viable Way Of Waste Management, Randy Santos, Foster A. Agblevor

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The main purpose of this investigation is to achieve the dechlorination and cracking of PVC producing a low chlorinated oil using a single step process; finding and using a suitable adsorbent that captures the chlorine released in the decomposition of the Poly Vinyl Chloride in the solid phase; then use the adsorbent to enhance red mud chlorine absorption activity. Find an alternative viable use for the waste PVC and red mud that will reduce landfilling. Calcium Hydroxide was selected as the main chlorine adsorbent since it captured 75% chlorine in the solid phase. The calcium hydroxide was mixed with red …

Development Of A Mobile 100 Kg/H Plant For Pyrolysis Using A Mechanically Fluidized Reactor, Dhiraj Kankariya, Stefano Tacchino, Dominic Pjontek, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Current pyrolysis processes perform the thermal decomposition of biomass into a liquid bio-oil, bio-char and non-condensable gases, at around 500 °C, without the addition of oxygen gas. The bio-oil is a complex mixture of many components that is used either as a substitute for fuel oil or for applications such as liquid smoke and bio-phenol resins that do not require pure chemicals.

The large-scale mechanical fluidized reactor (MFR) is a new technology for the pyrolysis of biomass developed by ICFAR, which does not require a sand bed and, thus, provides an undiluted solid char residue, which is essential to realize …

Catalytic Property Of Olivine For Bio-Oil Gasification, Mohammad Latifi, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Introduction

Biomass is an attractive renewable source of fuel and energy. Thermochemical processes can convert biomass to a liquid bio-oil or to a syngas. The advantage of using bio-oil as an intermediate is that, in contrast with both raw biomass and gas, it can easily be produced in small distributed units, stored and transported. Not only can platform chemicals and clean fuels be produced from syngas, but hydrogen is itself an alternative fuel. A high hydrogen production is usually desired: for example, methanol production requires a syngas with a molar H₂/CO ratio of 2. Therefore, maximum hydrogen production …

Fundamental Study And Applications To Biomass Pyrolysis Of The Mechanically Fluidized Reactor, Valentina Lago, Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

Lignin has great potential for the production of aromatics currently derived from petroleum, since it is the most abundant source of aromatics in nature. At present, Kraft lignin is used as fuel within the pulping process but, alternatively, it could be converted to high-value chemicals using thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis. Kraft lignin, however, is a very cohesive and thermally sensitive powder with foaming and agglomerating tendency under reaction conditions. Consequently, a novel reactor design, designated as Mechanically Fluidized Reactor (MFR) has been developed to successfully process Kraft lignin.

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract.

Hydrothermal Treatment Of Bio-Oil For The Production Of Biodiesel Antioxidants, Noemí Gil-Lalaguna, Ana Bautista, Lucía Botella, Alberto Gonzalo, José Luis Sánchez, Jesús Arauzo

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

1. INTRODUCTION

Fuel consumption is inevitable for industrial development and growth of any country. In the last years, diesel fuels have gained an increasingly important role in the transportation sector. However, the rapid depletion of crude oil resources, as well as the worldwide concern about the environmental damage related to the increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, has led to an increasing awareness about the development and use of renewable fuels. In this context, biodiesel appears as a good alternative to fossil diesel because of its renewable and biodegradable character, also being a non-toxic and clean fuel …

Identification And Thermochemical Analysis Of High-Lignin Feedstocks For Biofuel And Biochemical Production, Venugopal Mendu, Anne Harman-Ware, Mark Crocker, Jungho Jae, Jozsef Stork, Samuel Morton, Andrew Placido, George Huber, Seth Debolt

Samuel A Morton

Background - Lignin is a highly abundant biopolymer synthesized by plants as a complex component of plant secondary cell walls. Efforts to utilize lignin-based bioproducts are needed. Results - Herein we identify and characterize the composition and pyrolytic deconstruction characteristics of high-lignin feedstocks. Feedstocks displaying the highest levels of lignin were identified as drupe endocarp biomass arising as agricultural waste from horticultural crops. By performing pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we characterized lignin-derived deconstruction products from endocarp biomass and compared these with switchgrass. By comparing individual pyrolytic products, we document higher amounts of acetic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-propanone, acetone and furfural …

Application Of Mechanically Fluidized Reactors To Lignin Pyrolysis, Valentina Lago

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lignin has great potential for the production of aromatics currently derived from petroleum, since it is the most abundant source of aromatics in nature. At present, Kraft lignin is used as fuel within the pulping process but, alternatively, it could be converted to high-value chemicals using thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis. Kraft lignin, however, is a very cohesive and thermally sensitive powder with foaming and agglomerating tendency under reaction conditions. Therefore, new reactor designs are necessary to efficiently process this raw material.

Consequently, a novel reactor design, designated as Mechanically Fluidized Reactor (MFR) has been developed to successfully process Kraft …

Utilization Of Palm Oil Sludge Through Pyrolysis For Bio-Oil And Bio-Char Production

Faculty of Engineering University of Malaya

In this study, pyrolysis technique was utilized for converting palm oil sludge to value added materials: bio-oil (liquid fuel) and bio-char (soil amendment). The bio-oil yield obtained was 27.4 +/- 1.7 wt.% having a heating value of 22.2 +/- 3.7 MJ/kg and a negligible ash content of 0.23 +/- 0.01 wt.%. The pH of bio-oil was in alkaline region. The bio-char yielded 49.9 +/- 0.3 wt.%, which was further investigated for sorption efficiency by adsorbing metal (Cd2+ ions) from water. The removal efficiency of Cd2+ was 89.4 +/- 2%, which was almost similar to the removal efficiency of a commercial …

Bio-Oil And Biodiesel As Biofuels Derived From Microalgal Oil And Their Characterization By Using Instrumental Techniques, Dipesh Kumar, Bhaskar Singh, Kuldeep Bauddh, John Korstad

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

Microalgal oil has been a source for production of biofuels such as bio-oil and biodiesel. These two biofuels can be characterized quantitatively using advanced instrumentation techniques. Nile red fluorescence method, PAM fluorometry, NMR, GC/GC-MS, and FTIR are among the major techniques available for characterization and quantification of algal oil. NMR is a rapid and nondestructive analytical technique as it requires minimal sample preparation, and even one intact algal cell can be analyzed. It can also be used for continuous monitoring of cellular composition of algal culture. NMR can be used to monitor transesterification reaction and oxidation of lipids and biodiesel …

Upgrading Of Fast Pyrolysis Oil Via Hdo Using Nano-Structured Catalysts, Shima Ahmadi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The effects of type of solvents (hydro-treated or upgraded pyrolysis oil and ethanol) on hydro-de-oxygenation (HDO) of fast pyrolysis oil were studied. The presence and the type of solvent were found to be effective for prevention or reduction of self-polymerization during the bio-oil HDO process. Using ethanol as the solvent had superior performance in terms of the heating value, molecular weight and elemental composition of the upgraded oil products, compared to using hydro-treated oils as the solvent. Furthermore, novel CoMo catalysts supported on nano-structured materials including MCM-41 and SBA-15 were synthesized and tested on HDO of fast pyrolysis oil in …

Development And Applications Of A Novel Intermittent Solids Feeder For Pyrolysis Reactors, Federico M. Berruti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This PhD research addresses the challenge of feeding biomass residues into fluidized bed reactors for pyrolysis, through the development of a novel intermittent solid slug feeder, both for laboratory-scale and large-scale reactors. The new feeder can successfully handle biomass residues that are either too cohesive or thermally sensitive for traditional feeders.

To optimize the novel feeder performance, a model for the pulsating solids flow was developed from experimental data collected with ideal slugs, as well as real biomass flow. The model was validated using both a laboratory-scale (< 10 kg/hr) and large-scale feeder (> 250 kg/hr). Several important variables were identified. They include the material flow …

Fractional Condensation Of Bio-Oil Vapors, Akhil Tumbalam Gooty

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The research project described in this thesis deals with an investigation on the fractional condensation of bio-oil vapors to improve the separation of some of the key components of the bio-oil and, consequently, improve the properties and the value of each of the separated product streams.

In the first part, the separation of a mixture of three model compounds of bio-oil from a vapor and carrier gas stream was investigated with the help of a series of three condensers maintained at different temperatures. The practical performance of the fractional condensation train was improved by comparing the experimental results with the …

Gasification Of Bio-Oils To Syngas In Fluidized Bed Reactors, Mohammad Latifi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bio-fuels are renewable and clean which can be used as alternatives to fossil fuels or can be used in combination with them. Biomass is a main source of bio-fuels production: it is a renewable resource and its conversion to energy releases no net CO₂ to the environment.

Bio-oil, the valuable liquid product obtained from biomass through pyrolysis, may be either combusted to generate carbon-neutral electricity or converted to a synthesis gas from which chemicals or clean fuels can be produced. Producing bio-oil from biomass and then converting the bio-oil to syngas has several advantages: The bio-oil may be generated …

Identification And Thermochemical Analysis Of High-Lignin Feedstocks For Biofuel And Biochemical Production, Venugopal Mendu, Anne E. Harman-Ware, Mark Crocker, Jungho Jae, Jozsef Stork, Samuel Morton, Andrew Placido, George W. Huber, Seth Debolt

George W. Huber

Background - Lignin is a highly abundant biopolymer synthesized by plants as a complex component of plant secondary cell walls. Efforts to utilize lignin-based bioproducts are needed. Results - Herein we identify and characterize the composition and pyrolytic deconstruction characteristics of high-lignin feedstocks. Feedstocks displaying the highest levels of lignin were identified as drupe endocarp biomass arising as agricultural waste from horticultural crops. By performing pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we characterized lignin-derived deconstruction products from endocarp biomass and compared these with switchgrass. By comparing individual pyrolytic products, we document higher amounts of acetic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-propanone, acetone and furfural …

Pyrolysis Oils: Characterization, Stability Analysis, And Catalytic Upgrading To Fuels And Chemicals, Tushar Vispute

Open Access Dissertations

There is a growing need to develop the processes to produce renewable fuels and chemicals due to the economical, political, and environmental concerns associated with the fossil fuels. One of the most promising methods for a small scale conversion of biomass into liquid fuels is fast pyrolysis. The liquid product obtained from the fast pyrolysis of biomass is called pyrolysis oil or bio-oil. It is a complex mixture of more than 300 compounds resulting from the depolymerization of biomass building blocks, cellulose; hemi-cellulose; and lignin. Bio-oils have low heating value, high moisture content, are acidic, contain solid char particles, are …