87% Yield of Diesel Hydrocarbons from Biomass-Derived Precursors

A team from Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) reports in the journal ChemSusChem on a process that uses platform molecules derived from hexoses (5-methylfurfural) and from pentoses (2-methylfuran, or Sylvan) from lignocellulosic biomass to produce a high quality diesel. _GCC

Spanish researchers at Universitat Politècnica de València have devised a two-step process for high-yield conversion of precursors-from-lignocellulose into diesel range hydrocarbons.

The team, led by Dr. Avelino Corma, had reported earlier this year on a new simple, energy-efficient process (that also does not require any organic solvents) for the production of renewable diesel from biomass waste. (Earlier post.)

That process converts 2-methylfuran (2MF) into into diesel-range hydrocarbons through two consecutive catalytic steps that involve hydroxyalkylation/alkylation and hydrodeoxygenation, with an overall yield of 87%.

Lignocellulosic biomass contains both six-carbon (hexoses) and five-carbon (pentoses) sugars; the new process synthesizes diesel precursors from each, and then uses a catalytic hydrodeoxygenation process to produce the renewable diesel.

The resulting diesel can be blended in any ratio with commercial diesel, and has a high cetane number and good flow properties. _GCC

Of course they have to extract the precursors from the biomass first, before they can feed them into their two-step process. But in a free market environment, those lignocellulosic products would be sold on the open market as commodities, so that industrial plants at any scale could convert them into either fuels, high value chemicals, or plastics and other materials.

It is easy to see that this type of diesel product should prove superior to standard esterified biodiesels, in terms of cold weather performance and better blending with petro-diesel. The economics of this process will evolve and improve as the overall market for biomass and biomass materials develops.

How to Double the World's Supply of Diesel -- And Make It Better!

GCC
Researchers at Annamalai University in India have discovered how to blend ethanol and dimethyl ether -- both potentially renewable chemicals -- with diesel to produce a significantly improved fuel. The graphic above shows the results of comparative testing with pure petro-diesel, a 50:50 emulsion of diesel and ethanol, and a mix of 93% 50:50 diesel:ethanol and 7% DME. The best results were obtained from the mixture containing 46.5% diesel. Widespread use of such a mixture could result in doubling the effective supplies of diesel.

In a study published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, M. P. Ashok of Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India reports that adding dimethyl ether to an ethanol/diesel emulsion results in an increase in brake thermal efficiency and a decrease in specific fuel consumption (SFC), particulate matter, smoke density, and oxides of nitrogen compared to either the emulsion or a base diesel fuel.

...Ashok added DME on a 7% by volume basis with the selected emulsified fuel ratio of 50D/50E and carried out performance, emission, and combustion tests, along with performance and emission tests with diesel no. 2 and emulsified fuel 50D/50E.

Testing was done in a one-cylinder, four-stroke 5.2 kW engine with a compression ratio of 17.5:1. Speed was constant 1500 rpm, injection timing was 23 ° before TDC, and injection pressure was 220 kgf/cm2 (215 bar). _GCC

Much more at the link above.

Engineers and scientists worldwide have barely begun to discover how to extend the supplies and effectiveness of the Earth's finite supplies of fossil fuels. As the price of oil edges upward by fits and starts, booms and busts, our facility for substituting additives and fuels for petroleum will only get better.