Production of lignin biooil and analysis of product structure
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To produce cellulose ethanol from biomasses such as wood, sugarcane bagasse, and straw, it is first necessary to hydrolyze polysaccharides, and then ferment the monosaccharides; these two steps are what most current research focuses on. With the development of processing technologies, there is a need to separate different forms of polymers in biomass, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, using techniques like steam explosion and acid hydrolysis. Due to the application of these processes, large amounts of lignin are produced as a by-product. Considering the need for ethanol purification on a large scale, it is necessary to pyrolyze this lignin to convert it into liquid fuel. Previous experiments in this area failed, but it has been recently discovered that if formic acid and alcohol are used during hydrolysis, lignin can be easily depolymerized and reduced. In the presence of formic acid and ethanol, at 380°C, one-step pyrolysis can almost completely degrade all the feedstock into biooil, which can be easily separated from water, as there is almost no carbonization throughout the process
The composition of biomass pyrolysis oil is even more complex!
I wonder what the components of the biooil mentioned here are? What is the difficulty of further processing? What is the cost from biooil to finished oil?
380 degrees is too high a temperature; it’s not practical to achieve this in industrial settings as it requires a high amount of energy. It would be better to develop downstream products from lignin, such as PU. Recently, the Canadian company LIGNOL has been working together with the American company HENTSMAN to develop such products
There is still some distance to go from the laboratory to large-scale industrial production in factories; current technology is not yet capable of achieving that!
Does it also require a high pressure of hundreds of atmospheres to react?
How far is it still until the era of biorefining arrives?
Rather than using the lignin remaining after fermentation to produce fuel, it is better to develop biodegradable materials such as various resins.
9# keith2008 Biomass refining technology is now mature; CHOREN has a small commercial plant in Germany that is currently under testing, and oil production is expected to begin by summer. Another German company is also working on a commercial demonstration facility in Shandong, China, and it is estimated that it will take another two years before it can be put into operation. The problem lies not in technology but in cost; biomass is too expensive, its sources are uncertain, and large-scale commercialization poses significant challenges.