1. Pyrolytic Bio-fuels Produced from Forestry and Agricultural FeedstocksBy
Philip H. Steele
Forest Products Department
Forest and Wildlife Research Center
Mississippi State University

2. Bio-oil production:
Bio-oil results from fast pyrolysis of cellulosic biomass
Particles are less than or equal to 2 mm
Absence of oxygen
Applied temperatures 400 to 550oC
Rapid cooling

3. MSU pyrolysis Gen II pyrolysis reactor:
Raw bio-oil
yield = 65% on
dry wt basis. 1 dry ton
biomass = 1300 lb
bio-oil and gives
130 gal/dt

4. What are bio-oils?
Bio-oils are water emulsive suspensions of the thermally fractured biomass chemical structure. Each bio-oil typically contains more than 100 chemical compounds.
Not an oil as it is
immiscible in petroleum
oils

5. An MSU objective is to license its pyrolysis reactor design:
Revised auger design will allow an estimated 4-ton/day biomass throughput
Our two industrial partners are underway with the new design for 10-ton/day reactors

6. Bio-oil challenges: Oxygen in bio-oil: 45-50% by weight
Incorporated in oxygenated compounds
Causes most of the negative properties:
Variable viscosity
High acidity
Pungent odor
Low energy density (50% that of No. 2 fuel oil)

7. Bio-oil chemical composition by group:
Wt, %
2-5
Phenols
20-30
Water
1-4
Furfurals
15-30
Lignin compounds
Alcohols
10-20
Aldehydes
1-5
Ketones
10-15
Carboxylic acids
5-10
Carbohydrates 7

8. Upgrading bio-oil : Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO)
Lignocellulosic biodiesel (L-B)

9. Upgrading bio-oil by hydrodeoxygenation (HDO):
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Hydro-carbons
Water
Water + HDO bio-oil
HDO bio-oil captures 72% of raw bio-oil energy value;
it is a mix of hydrocarbons ranging from napthalene
through diesel weights.

10. Packed bed reactor production of MSU HDO will begin next week:
Water % = 0
Oxygen % = 0
Acid value = 0.1
HHV = 44.8
Diesel 30%
Gasoline 35%
Jet fuel 32%
Other 3%

11. FTIR spectrum; diesel vs raw and HDO bio-oils:

12. Blended with petroleum hydrocarbons
HDO bio-oil can be: blended with hydrocarbons; refined in current petroleum refineries:
Blended with petroleum hydrocarbons
Refined in petroleum
refineries
5% HDO

13. SERC co-director, Glenn Steele, demostrating HDO bio-oil/gasoline blend informal engine test:

14. Esterified bio-oil is a mildly upgraded bio-oil to be utilized as a boiler fuel:
Property
Raw
bio-oil
Esterified
Acid value ( mg KOH/g) 89 46
Viscosity 40 oC)
14.53
7.37
HHV (MJ/kg)
17.5
23.8

15. Distributed bio-oil manufacture will reduce transportation costs:
Regional pyrolysis center
Mobile pyrolysis reactors
Bio-oil upgrading
Disaster mobile pyrolysis reactors
Industrially captive pyrolysis reactors

16. Forest Products Department Forest and Wildlife Research Center
Hydrocarbon Biofuels Produced via Pyrolysis of Pine Timber and Harvest Residues By
Philip H. Steele
Sanjeev Gajjela
and
Fei Yu
Forest Products Department
Forest and Wildlife Research Center
Mississippi State University