Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Desert Shrub Salix psammophila to High Value-added Chemicals and Hydrochar with Recycled Processing Water

Abstract

-oil and hydrochar were produced through the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Salix psammophila (SP) branch residues with recycled processing water, in order to address the lack of water in deserts or sandy lands and the difficulty of water treatment in a batch reactor. The results indicated that the recycling of the HTL processing water could significantly improve the yield of bio-oil from 30.3% to 46.9%. The gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses of the obtained bio-oil confirmed the presence of value-added chemicals, such as phenolics, acetic acid, and furans. The acetic acid in the processing water played a key role in the HTL. The heavy oil had a high content (maximum of 42.7 wt%) of the low boiling point fraction (<300 °C), indicating its potential for further applications. The higher heating value of the hydrochar was about 27 MJ/kg, equivalent to the heating value of medium-rank and high-rank coals. These results show that HTL using recycled processing water has great potential for utilization of desert biomass wastes.

Hydrothermal co-liquefaction of microalgae, wood, and sugar beet pulp

“…However, the hydrolysis of, e.g., compounds in the sugar beet pulp (Fig. 3a) to aqueous phase organics or the production of gaseous compounds from pine wood, may be enhanced by the higher acid concentration [15]. Considering that algal biomass-derived biocrude is more than proportionally represented in the biocrude of the mixture of algal biomass with pine wood (see Fig.…”

Selective Extraction of Bio-oil from Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Salix psammophila by Organic Solvents with Different Polarities through Multistep Extraction Separation

“…In order to maintain a benign ecological system, the systematic cutting and curing of the shrub is necessary, producing a large amount of SP branch residues. According to a previous study (Li et al 2013a), the raw material had a low content of moisture (8.9%) and ash (1.60%) and a high content of volatile matter (79.78%). The cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents in volatile matter were 55.45, 18.89, and 25.89%, respectively.…”

“…Solvent extraction is a highly efficient way to separate different fractions from bio-oil. In previous studies, various organic solvents were used to extract phenols from HTL products, such as pentane (Putun et al 1999), tetrahydrofuran (Li et al 2013a), acetone (Zou et al 2009), toluene, methanol, diethyl ether, n-hexane, and dichloromethane (Oasmaa et al 2003;Garcia-Perez et al 2007;Sukhbaatar et al 2009;Javaid et al 2010). Li et al (2013b) extracted 12.7 wt% levoglucosan from bio-oil using water.…”

De novo transcriptome assembly, development of EST-SSR markers and population genetic analyses for the desert biomass willow, Salix psammophila

“…Moreover, S. psammophila is regarded as a promising biomass feedstock for biofuels and bioenergy because of its ease of vegetative propagation, minimal fertiliser requirement and substantial biomass. The stems of S. psammophila require flat stubble once every 3–5 years to allow growth to flourish and its branch residues contain high cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents of 55.45%, 18.98% and 25.98%, respectively89. The cellulose content of S. psammophila is higher than those reported in the study of Serapligia et al 10,.…”