Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass: A review of subcritical water technologies

Saqib Sohail Toor, Lasse Rosendahl and Andreas Rudolf

Energy, 2011, vol. 36, issue 5, 2328-2342

Abstract: This article reviews the hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass with the aim of describing the current status of the technology. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a medium-temperature, high-pressure thermochemical process, which produces a liquid product, often called bio-oil or bi-crude. During the hydrothermal liquefaction process, the macromolecules of the biomass are first hydrolyzed and/or degraded into smaller molecules. Many of the produced molecules are unstable and reactive and can recombine into larger ones. During this process, a substantial part of the oxygen in the biomass is removed by dehydration or decarboxylation. The chemical properties of bio-oil are highly dependent of the biomass substrate composition. Biomass constitutes of various components such as protein; carbohydrates, lignin and fat, and each of them produce distinct spectra of compounds during hydrothermal liquefaction. In spite of the potential for hydrothermal production of renewable fuels, only a few hydrothermal technologies have so far gone beyond lab- or bench-scale.

Keywords: Hydrothermal liquefaction; Biomass conversion; Bio-oil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (158)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:36:y:2011:i:5:p:2328-2342

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.03.013

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