Oil Derived from Biomass: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Oxygenates

Bio-oil is a complex liquid mixture of paraffins, aromatics, oxygenates and other biomass-derived components. Using current techniques we are able to characterize these oils, but are unable to account for as much as 35 wt% of bio-oil components. Main differences between bio-derived oils and petroleum based oils include the high water, acid and oxygen content of the former. Refining these bio-oils typically involves a hydrodeoxygenating step, and the type and amounts of oxygenates have an effect on this process. A better knowledge of oxygenates present in bio-oil have implication on properly evaluating bio-oil quality and may provide the key to solving processing issues encountered in the upgrading and refining.  In this current climate of studying the possibility of integrating bio-oils as a co-feed in intermediate refinery streams an intimate knowledge of species present in bio-oils and their abundance is a key research need. The challenges include bio oil’s propensity to form condensation products, reduce catalyst lifetimes, and its corrosiveness. We are working towards standardizing analytical methods to identify and quantify species such as carbonyls, carboxylates, phenolic and hydroxyl species in bio-oils. Our work in this regard will be discussed in this paper.