Solvolysis and Mild Hydrogenolysis of Lignin Pyrolysis Bio-Oils for Bunker Fuel Blends

Antigoni G. Margellou (), Fanny Langschwager, Christina P. Pappa, Ana C. C. Araujo, Axel Funke and Konstantinos S. Triantafyllidis ()
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Antigoni G. Margellou: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Fanny Langschwager: Department of Piston Machines and Internal Combustion Engines, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Christina P. Pappa: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Ana C. C. Araujo: Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Axel Funke: Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Konstantinos S. Triantafyllidis: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-24

Abstract: The projected depletion of fossil resources has initiated research on new and sustainable fuels which can be utilized in combination with conventional fuels. Lignocellulosic biomass, and more specifically lignin, can be depolymerized towards phenolic and aromatic bio-oils which can be converted downstream into bunker fuel blending components. Within this study, solvolysis under critical ethanol conditions and mild catalytic hydrotreatment were applied to heavy fractions of lignin pyrolysis bio-oils with the aim of recovering bio-oils with improved properties, such as a lower viscosity, that would allow their use as bunker fuel blending components. The mild reaction conditions, i.e., low temperature (250 °C), short reaction time (1 h) and low hydrogen pressure (30–50 bar), led to up 65 wt.% recovery of upgraded bio-oil, which exhibited a high carbon content (63–73 wt.%), similar to that of the parent bio-oil (68.9 wt.%), but a lower oxygen content and viscosity, which decreased from ~298,000 cP in the parent lignin pyrolysis oil to 526 cP in the hydrotreated oil, with a 10%Ni/Beta catalyst in methanol, and which was also sulfur-free. These properties permit the potential utilization of the oils as blending components in conventional bunker fuels.

Keywords: lignin pyrolysis bio-oils; hydrogenolysis; bunker fuel blends; bifunctional catalysts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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