375578 Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Wet Algal Biomass with/without Catalysts

Tuesday, November 18, 2014: 9:08 AM
M303 (Marriott Marquis Atlanta)
Tapaswi Muppaneni1, Harvind Reddy1, Sundaravadivelnathan Ponnusamy1, Nagamany Nirmalakhandan2, Tanner Schaub3, Barry Dungan4, Francisco Holguin4, Pete Lammers5, Wayne Voorhies6 and Shuguang Deng7, (1)Chemical Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (2)Civil and geological Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (3)College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (4)Plant and environmental sciences, New Mexico State university, Las Cruces, NM, (5)Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (6)Molecular biology, New Mexico State university, LAS CRUCES, NM, (7)Chemical Engineering Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

A comprehensive study of hydrothermal liquefaction was conducted with and without catalysts. The strains of algal biomass used in this work were Galdieria sulphueria, Coelastrella and Chlorella sorokiniana. Experimental parameters studied in this work were reaction temperature (180-330oC), 10-20% biomass loading, molarity (~1.0M), and 30 min. reaction time. HCl and H­2SO4, KOH and NaOH have been used as acid and base catalysts in this study. The yields of biocrude oil, bio-char, water soluble compounds and gaseous products were calculated based on the experimental results. The high heating values (HHV) of biocrude oil and bio-char were determined with a bomb calorimeter. The energy recovery calculations were performed based on the HHV values of biocrude oil and bio-char. from the biomass was calculated The biocrude oils and water soluble organics were characterized with High Throughput Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (HT TOF-MS) and GC-MS. Based on the experimental results and biochemical compositions of the biomass used, a theoretical model has been developed to predict the biocrude oil yield.

Extended Abstract: File Not Uploaded
See more of this Session: Sustainable Fuels: Advances in Innovative Processes
See more of this Group/Topical: Environmental Division