Aromatic hydrocarbons from lignocellulose biomass

Abstract

Various embodiments of microwave-assisted systems, devices, and associated methods of operation are described herein. In one embodiment, a method for producing a bio-oil from a carbonaceous material includes feeding the carbonaceous material to a pyrolysis reactor, pyrolyzing the carbonaceous material in the reactor to produce a raw bio-oil containing oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons, and catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil to produce an upgraded bio-oil having reduced aromatic hydrocarbons.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for producing a bio-oil from a carbonaceous material, the method comprising:
 feeding the carbonaceous material to a pyrolysis reactor;   pyrolyzing the carbonaceous material in the reactor to produce a raw bio-oil containing oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons; and   catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil to produce an upgraded bio-oil having reduced aromatic hydrocarbons.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein feeding the carbonaceous material includes feeding a carbonaceous material with a moisture content of about 0.5% to about 20% and a particle size from about 0.4 mm to about 5 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein pyrolyzing the carbonaceous material includes reducing formation of coke forming precursors. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein pyrolyzing the carbonaceous material includes producing an aromatic carbon precursor rich pyrolytic product. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the precursor comprises at least one of guaiacol in an amount of about 30% to about 70%), phenol in an amount of about 4% to about 30%, furan in an amount of about 0.5% to about 10%, esters in an amount of about 0% to about 5%, or sugar in an amount of about 0% to about 15%. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein pyrolyzing the carbonaceous material includes producing a syngas having about 10% to about 65% carbon monoxide, about 0% to about 7% methane, and about 0% to about 5% carbon dioxide. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein catalytically reducing includes producing hydrogen in by inducing a gas shift reaction between carbon monoxide and water. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil in a vapor phase. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes producing an upgraded bio-oil containing at least one of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, o-xylene, indene, or naphthalene. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes producing an upgraded bio-oil having a flash point between about 128° C. to about 406° C. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 11  wherein catalytically reducing includes producing an upgraded bio-oil having a carbon number distribution in the range of C9 to C23. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes producing about 10% to about 40% upgraded bio-oil, about 10% to about 50% syngas, and about 10% to about 30% bio-char. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the syngas has a heating value of about 100 BTU/standard cubic feet to about 400 BTU/standard cubic feet. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the syngas has about 0% to about 25% hydrogen, about 0% to about 11% methane, and about 0% to about 37% carbon monoxide. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil to produce an upgraded bio-oil having reduced aromatic hydrocarbons at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 600° C. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil to produce an upgraded bio-oil having reduced aromatic hydrocarbons at a residence time of about 10 seconds to about 10 minutes. 
     
     
         17 . The method of claiml wherein carbonaceous material comprises lignin, hemicelluose, and/or cellulose. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein catalytically reducing includes catalytically reducing at least a portion of the oxidized aromatic hydrocarbons in the raw bio-oil to produce an upgraded bio-oil having reduced aromatic hydrocarbons at a catalyst to carbonaceous material ratio of about 0.15:1; about 0.25:1; about 0.3:1; about 0.35:1; about 0.4:1; about 0.45:1; or about 0.5:1.