Catalytic deoxygenation of liquid biomass for hydrocarbon fuels

Liquid biomass such as methyl laurate and canola oil is deoxygenated with hydrogen and NiMo/gamma-Al(2)O(3) catalyst. Oxygen from methyl laurate and canola oil is removed at 18.25-85.13 bar initial cold hydrogen pressure and 300-400 degrees C, using a 316 stainless steel batch reactor. Removal of oxygen from liquid methyl laurate and canola oil is evaluated with a GC/MS analyzer for liquid reaction products and another GC for gaseous reaction products. The range of reaction duration of liquid biomass in the batch reactor is 30-60 min under the deoxygenation conditions. Conversion of liquid biomass into gaseous products is evaluated with analysis data of gas products and a mass balance in terms of hydrogen. The objective of this research is to develop an efficient method of removing oxygen from liquid biomass to produce petroleum-comparative liquid hydrocarbons with hydrogen and a catalyst. Removal of oxygen from bio-based fuels for liquid hydrocarbon fuel is needed to increase its energy intensity, stability, and decrease its viscosity. In this paper, removal of oxygen from methyl laurate and canola oil is discussed in detail in terms of various oxygen removal conditions such as reaction temperature and pressure, catalyst amount, and hydrodynamics of heterogeneous reaction mixture in the batch reactor. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.