Technologies for thermochemical conversion of agricultural and forestry residues into fuels and chemicals

将各种农业和林业残渣热解转化为液体生物油和固体生物炭是一项非常有吸引力的技术，我们的替代资源化学品和燃料研究所(ICFAR)的实验室已经完善并扩大了这项技术的规模。生物油提供了多种替代用途，包括用作燃料、杀虫剂、杀虫剂、香料和药品。然而，它们的特性随着原始原料和操作条件的不同而有很大差异，通常，如果不进一步加工和改进，它们不能立即得到利用。同样，需要对热解生物炭进行升级，以充分利用其特性，实现其价值的最大化。因此，根据以往的经验和往绩记录，拟议研究方案的主要目标包括(A)不断改进沸腾床技术，以便能够有效地处理越来越多的材料，这些材料经过精心挑选，以避免与食品或其他更有效的生物转化过程(农业和林业残渣、食品加工业的副产品，以及生物转化过程中产生的副产品)的竞争，以及(B)开发从不同残渣中生产的生物油和生物炭的升级技术，使其适合作为单独产品或混合产品融入现有的传统化石燃料和化学品市场。这些目标将通过开展新的项目来实现，这些项目都涉及研究生，涉及以下方面：(1)改进沸腾床热解炉的固体进料器，以处理粘性和纤维状生物质原料；(2)研究分步冷凝，以实现生物油各部分的初步分离，然后可使用适当的反应途径单独利用或提质；(3)研究生物焦的物理和化学升级；以及(4)开展关于生物油催化和热升级的综合研究计划，包括生物质/生物油和加拿大重烃(炼油厂重油、重油和沥青)的共同加工(共同热解)所产生的潜力和协同效应。

Pyrolytic conversion of a large variety of agricultural and forestry residues into liquid bio-oils and solid biochar is a very attractive technology that has been perfected and scaled up in our laboratories of the Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR). Bio-oils offer a large variety of alternative applications, including their use as fuels, pesticides, insecticides, flavors, and pharmaceuticals. However, their characteristics vary greatly as a function of the original feedstock and of the operating conditions and, typically, they cannot be immediately utilized without further processing and upgrading. Similarly, the pyrolytic bio-char needs to be upgraded to take full advantage of its characteristics and maximize its value. Therefore, building on previous experience and track record, the main objectives of the proposed research program include (a) continuous improvements of the fluid bed technology to allow the efficient processing of an ever expanding array of materials that are carefully selected to avoid competition with food or other more efficient biological conversion processes (agricultural and forestry residues, co-products of the food processing industry, and byproducts generated in biological conversion processes), and (b) the development of upgrading technologies for bio-oils and bio-chars produced from different residues to make them suitable for integration into the existing markets for conventional fossil fuels and chemicals as individual products or as blends. These objectives will be achieved by undertaking new projects, all involving graduate students, on (1) the improvement of the solid feeders for fluid bed pyrolyzers to handle cohesive and fibrous biomass materials; (2) investigating fractional condensation to achieve a primary separation of fractions of bio-oil that could then separately utilized or upgraded using appropriate reaction pathways; (3) studying physical and chemical upgrading of bio-chars; and (4) conducting a comprehensive research program on bio-oil catalytic and thermal upgrading, including the potential and synergies derived from the co-processing (co-pyrolysis) of biomass/bio-oils and of Canadian heavy hydrocarbons (refinery heavy bottoms, heavy oils and bitumens).