Towards sustainable hydrocarbon fuels with biomass fast pyrolysis oil and electrocatalytic upgrading

Abstract

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation offers a carbon and energy efficient strategy for upgrading pyrolytic bio-oil with renewable electricity in biomass processing depots.

Greener Routes to Biomass Waste Valorization: Lignin Transformation Through Electrocatalysis for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels Production

“…Based on the Billion-To nR eport released by the US Department of Energyi n2 016 [6] and annuale nergy usage statisticsf rom US EIA (Energy Information Administration), the amount of fossil carbon mobilized in current US usage of petroleuma lone (not considering coal or naturalg as) substantially exceeds the carbon contenta vailable in even the most optimistic amounts projected for 2030 production of non-foodb iomass. [7] Yett oday's "standard model" for renewable fuels from biomass focusesm ainly on cellulosic ethanol production that at best would fully convert the two carbohydrate components (cellulose and hemicellulose) via fermentation, ap rocess whose intrinsic stoichiometry discards at least a third of the feedstock'sc arbon as CO 2 . [7] Combustion of lignin for process heat converts this photosynthetically fixed carbon resource to CO 2 withoutd eriving additional value.…”

“…[7] Yett oday's "standard model" for renewable fuels from biomass focusesm ainly on cellulosic ethanol production that at best would fully convert the two carbohydrate components (cellulose and hemicellulose) via fermentation, ap rocess whose intrinsic stoichiometry discards at least a third of the feedstock'sc arbon as CO 2 . [7] Combustion of lignin for process heat converts this photosynthetically fixed carbon resource to CO 2 withoutd eriving additional value. Given the above carbon insufficiency,a ttempts to valorize biomass must Lignin valorization is essential for biorefineriest op roduce fuels and chemicals for as ustainable future.…”

Influence of heating rates on the products of high-temperature pyrolysis of waste wood pellets and biomass model compounds

“…In the literature particular attention is paid to the study of pyrolysis for liquid fuel production leading to a wealth of data on studies of so-called fast and flash pyrolysis processes, where the aim is rapid heating rates and rapid volatile quenching ; and slow pyrolysis (Duman et al, 2011;Elliott, 2013;Lam et al, 2017;Li et al, 2004;Luo et al, 2004;Onay & Kockar, 2003;Patwardhan et al, 2011a;Patwardhan et al, 2011b;Sun et al, 2010). However, pyrolysis is involved in any heat treatment of biomass particles, whether considered as the main step or part of a succession of steps in the process (Blondeau & Jeanmart, 2012), hence studies on high temperature pyrolysis which are also relevant to processes such as gasification and combustion, contribute to the understanding of thermochemical biomass conversion.…”

Technoeconomic Analysis of a Hybrid Biomass Thermochemical and Electrochemical Conversion System

“…Electrochemical energy conversion is a developing approach to utilize renewable carbon resources, such as bio‐oil derived from biomass fast pyrolysis. Bio‐oil can be potentially upgraded into electrical power, higher value chemicals, and biobased products through various electrochemical conversion devices . A fuel cell is one type of device to directly convert chemical energy into electricity.…”

“…Lam et al. analyzed the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of fast pyrolysis bio‐oil as an immediate stabilization strategy for the sustainable production of hydrocarbon fuels . Most of these studies focus on the electrocatalytic oxidation of pure biomass‐derived model compounds in fuel cell applications for simplicity and high efficiency.…”