Hydrothermal liquefaction of harvested high-ash low-lipid algal biomass from Dianchi Lake: effects of operational parameters and relations of products

Chunyan Tian; Zhidan Liu; Yuanhui Zhang; Baoming Li; Wei Cao; Haifeng Lu; Na Duan; Li Zhang; Tingting Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.093

Hydrothermal liquefaction of harvested high-ash low-lipid algal biomass from Dianchi Lake: effects of operational parameters and relations of products

Bioresour Technol. 2015 May:184:336-343. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.093. Epub 2014 Oct 25.

Authors

Chunyan Tian¹, Zhidan Liu², Yuanhui Zhang³, Baoming Li¹, Wei Cao¹, Haifeng Lu¹, Na Duan¹, Li Zhang¹, Tingting Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) and Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering in Structure and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
² Laboratory of Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) and Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering in Structure and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: zdliu@cau.edu.cn.
³ Laboratory of Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) and Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering in Structure and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

PMID: 25466998
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.093

Abstract

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) allows a direct conversion of algal biomass into biocrude oil, not only solving the environmental issues caused by the over-growing algae but also producing renewable energy. This study reports HTL of algae after separation from eutrophicated Dianchi Lake in China. Conversion efficiency was studied under different operational conditions via an orthogonal design, including holding temperature (HT) (260-340 °C), retention time (RT) (30-90 min) and total solid (TS) (10-20%). A highest biocrude oil yield (18.4%, dry ash-free basis, daf) was achieved at 300 °C, 60 min, and 20% (TS), due to the low contents of lipids (1.9%, daf) and proteins (24.8%, daf), and high contents of ash (41.6%, dry basis) and carbohydrates (71.8%, daf). Operational parameters significantly affected the biocrude yields, and chemical distribution of HTL products. The biocrude production also related to other HTL products, and involved chemical reactions, such as deoxygenation and/or denitrogenation.

Keywords: Algal blooms; Biocrude oil; Deoxygenation and denitrogenation; Hydrothermal liquefaction; Product distribution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biofuels
Biomass*
Biotechnology / methods*
China
Eukaryota / metabolism*
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Lakes*
Lipids / chemistry*
Oils / chemistry
Organic Chemicals / analysis
Temperature*
Water / pharmacology*

Substances

Biofuels
Lipids
Oils
Organic Chemicals
Water