Microalgae bio-oil production by pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction: Mechanism and characteristics

Ümit Ağbulut; Ranjna Sirohi; Eric Lichtfouse; Wei-Hsin Chen; Christophe Len; Pau Loke Show; Anh Tuan Le; Xuan Phuong Nguyen; Anh Tuan Hoang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.128860

Microalgae bio-oil production by pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction: Mechanism and characteristics

Bioresour Technol. 2023 May:376:128860. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.128860. Epub 2023 Mar 11.

Authors

Ümit Ağbulut¹, Ranjna Sirohi², Eric Lichtfouse³, Wei-Hsin Chen⁴, Christophe Len⁵, Pau Loke Show⁶, Anh Tuan Le⁷, Xuan Phuong Nguyen⁸, Anh Tuan Hoang⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Duzce University, 81620 Düzce, Türkiye.
² School of Health Sciences and Technology, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248 007, Uttarakhand, India.
³ State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049 PR China.
⁴ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Chemistry for Life and Health Sciences, PSL University, France.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Subtropical Water Environment and Marine Biological Resources Protection, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; Department of Sustainable Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai 602105, India.
⁷ School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
⁸ PATET Research Group, Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
⁹ Institute of Engineering, HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Electronic address: hatuan@hutech.edu.vn.

PMID: 36907228
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.128860

Abstract

Microalgae have great potential in producing energy-dense and valuable products via thermochemical processes. Therefore, producing alternative bio-oil to fossil fuel from microalgae has rapidly gained popularity due to its environmentally friendly process and elevated productivity. This current work aims to review comprehensively the microalgae bio-oil production using pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction. In addition, core mechanisms of pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction process for microalgae were scrutinized, showing that the presence of lipids and proteins could contribute to forming a large amount of compounds containing O and N elements in bio-oil. However, applying proper catalysts and advanced technologies for the two aforementioned approaches could improve the quality, heating value, and yield of microalgae bio-oil. In general, microalgae bio-oil produced under optimal conditions could have 46 MJ/kg heating value and 60% yield, indicating that microalgae bio-oil could become a promising alternative fuel for transportation and power generation.

Keywords: Bio-oil; Circular economy; Microalgae; Sustainable biofuels; Thermochemical conversion.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biofuels*
Biomass
Microalgae* / metabolism
Pyrolysis
Temperature
Water / chemistry

Substances

Bio-Oil
Biofuels
Water