Pyrolytic Fractionation of the biomass lipids: catalyst-free conversion of the resulting vapors to hydrocarbons

摘要

Our group recently developed a novel pyrolytic fractionation method for converting oleaginous biomass (microalgae and/ or oil seeds) to fuels and products. We have observed that the biopolymer components (protein, starch and lipids) volatilize over distinct temperature regions. This allows recovery of oil and gas separately from each fraction. Through pyrolytic fractionation, volatile N-containing compounds and carbohydrate products can be removed from the biomass by first heating to ～320 °C and holding temperature steady until all protein and starch are thermally degraded or stabilized via polymerization to char. The biomass remaining after thermal removal of protein and starch can be further processed (at temperatures ≥420°C) to recover nitrogen- and oxygenate-free bio-oil from lipids, again as a separate fraction.