Hydrothermal liquefaction of freshwater and marine algal biomass: A novel approach to produce distillate fuel fractions through blending and co-processing of biocrude with petrocrude

Melcureraj Lavanya; Arunachalam Meenakshisundaram; Sahadevan Renganathan; Senthil Chinnasamy; David Milton Lewis; Jaganathan Nallasivam; Sailendra Bhaskar

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.12.013

Hydrothermal liquefaction of freshwater and marine algal biomass: A novel approach to produce distillate fuel fractions through blending and co-processing of biocrude with petrocrude

Bioresour Technol. 2016 Mar:203:228-35. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.12.013. Epub 2015 Dec 18.

Authors

Melcureraj Lavanya¹, Arunachalam Meenakshisundaram², Sahadevan Renganathan³, Senthil Chinnasamy⁴, David Milton Lewis⁵, Jaganathan Nallasivam⁴, Sailendra Bhaskar⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research and Development Centre, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chennai 600068, India; Department of Biotechnology, A.C. Tech., Anna University, Chennai 600025, India. Electronic address: lavanya@cpcl.co.in.
² Research and Development Centre, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chennai 600068, India.
³ Department of Biotechnology, A.C. Tech., Anna University, Chennai 600025, India.
⁴ Biotechnology Division, Aban Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Chennai 600008, India.
⁵ Muradel Pty Ltd, Whyalla, South Australia 5600, Australia.

PMID: 26735877
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.12.013

Abstract

Biocrude was produced from Tetraselmis sp. - a marine alga and Arthrospira platensis - a fresh water alga using hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process. Considering the constraints in cultivating algae for replacing 100% petrocrude, this study evaluated the option of blending and co-processing algal biocrude with petrocrude. Biocrudes obtained from algal strains cultivated in fresh water and sea water were blended with petrocrude at 10% concentration and the characteristics were studied using FT-IR and CNS SIMDIST. True Boiling Point (TBP) distillation was carried out to assess yields and properties of distillates of blended biocrudes. Biocrudes obtained from both algae were light crudes and the blended crudes recorded distillate yields of 76-77 wt%. The yield of light naphtha fraction of biocrude blends was 29-30%; whereas the yield of diesel fraction was about 18%. This study proposes blending and co-processing of algal biocrude with petrocrude to produce drop-in biofuels.

Keywords: Algae; Biocrude; Co-processing; Hydrothermal liquefaction; True Boiling Point distillation.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Aquatic Organisms / chemistry*
Biofuels* / analysis
Biomass*
Chemical Fractionation / methods*
Chlorophyta / chemistry*
Distillation
Fresh Water
Hydrolysis
Petroleum* / analysis
Seawater
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Substances

Biofuels
Petroleum