(56c) Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Oxygenates in Oils Derived from Biomass

The production of liquid transportation fuels from biomass in an efficient and cost-effective way is a primary focus of the US DOE. Conversion of wood and other agricultural residual feedstocks through a liquefaction method, such as fast pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction, followed by a catalytic upgrading pathway is one of the most promising ways to produce fuels and chemicals. The resultant oil is a complex liquid mixture of paraffins, aromatics, oxygenates and other components. It goes without saying that a near complete analysis of these oils will aid the subsequent processing steps. Main differences between bio-derived oils and petroleum based oils include the high water, acid, and oxygen content of the former. Using current technologies we are able to characterize and account for the majority of the carbon containing species, but still striving to account for 35% unknowns.  We also believe that oxygenates present in these oils results in instability and cause complications in down-stream processing.  A better knowledge of oxygenates present in bio-oil is needed to properly evaluate bio-oil quality and may provide the key to solving processing issues encountered in the upgrading and refining.  In this current climate of studying the possibility of integrating bio-oils as a co-feed in intermediate refinery streams, an intimate knowledge of species present in bio-oils and their abundance is a key research need. We are working towards standardizing analytical methods to identify and quantify species such as carbonyls, carboxylates, phenolic, and hydroxyl species in bio-oils. Our work in this regard will be discussed in this paper.