Synergistic and Antagonistic Interactions during Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Soybean Oil, Soy Protein, Cellulose, Xylose, and Lignin

Abstract

We conducted hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of soybean oil, soy protein, microcrystalline cellulose, xylose, and lignin as individual compounds and binary, ternary, quaternary, and quinary mixtures at 350 °C for 30 min. The 34.5 wt % biocrude yield from HTL of the quinary mixture, which mimics the biochemical composition of swine manure, is much higher than the 21.5 wt % yield calculated from the weighted average yields from HTL of the individual components. HTL of binary mixtures of protein and cellulose, protein and xylose, cellulose and lignin, and xylose and lignin revealed synergistic effects on biocrude yield. On the other hand, HTL of soybean oil and lignin together exhibited an antagonistic effect on biocrude yield. These results from individual compounds and binary mixtures lead to a new model that can predict the yield, higher heating value, and C, H, and N content of biocrude from HTL of ternary, quaternary, and quinary mixtures of the biomolecules used in this study as well as in biocrude from HTL of different manures, algae, and lignocellulosic materials. The synergies identified in this work provide insights into strategies that could be employed in feedstock blending to improve biocrude yields and feedstock energy recovery from HTL of biomass resources.

Study of Biocrudes Obtained via Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) of Wild Alga Consortium under Different Conditions

“…A comparison of Figure 7 as a function of alga batch biochemical composition shows that a high protein content frequently corresponded to a high toluene-insoluble content. This observation is in accordance with the results of Lu et al [12], whereby yields higher in protein than carbohydrate resulted in 3).…”

Characterization of biofuel production from hydrothermal treatment of hyperaccumulator waste (Pteris vittata L.) in sub- and supercritical water

“…It was reported that polyphenols presenting in bio-oil were mainly produced from the degradation of lignin through cleavage reactions or cracking of ether-bonds in the raw feedstock. 27,28 However, lignin compound was difficult to degrade even at relative high temperature (250-350 C) due to its high degree of polymerization and complex branching. 29,30 Clearly, supercritical temperature of 390 C employed in this study effectively improved lignin degradation and produced more phenolics compounds, thus realizing high conversion efficiency and selectivity of lignin to polyphenols.…”

Deep Eutectic Solvents for Pretreatment, Extraction, and Catalysis of Biomass and Food Waste

“…There is a growing awareness that the problematic challenges of waste management, resource depletion, and the loss of valuable and energy-containing waste can all be solved; more efficient use of biowaste will contribute to sustainable development. Food waste and food residue can be converted to bio-oil [41,63,64,65,66,67], biogas [68,69], or biochar [37] with hydrothermal methods. Alternatively, the desirable components can be harvested using an extraction process [27,31,33,49,70].…”