Bio-Oil Streams in the Current Fast Pyrolysis – Catalytic Upgrading Route of Producing Renewable Liquid Fuel from Biomass

One of the main aims of the multi-year program plan of the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is the production of liquid transportation fuels from biomass in an efficient and cost-effective way, targeting a cost of $3/gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2017. Conversion of wood and agricultural materials through the fast pyrolysis followed by catalytic upgrading pathway is one of the most promising thermochemical routes. Until recently, removal of O from the chemically and thermally unstable pyrolysis oils through catalytic upgrading was plagued with process shutdown within 100 hours of operation due to plug formation. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) found out that the presence or absence of specific functionalities in the bio- oil enables achievement of much longer continuous process operations.  This report aims to present the characteristics of oils produced in the various intermediate streams of the different reactors in the current state of the art of the process. By understanding the quality of the oils being produced, improvements such as targeted design of better catalysts active at more efficient operating conditions can be better informed.