Review of Denitrogenation of Algae Biocrude Produced by Hydrothermal Liquefaction

• Published in: Transactions of Tianjin University Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 301 - 314
• Main Authors: Sun, Jinsheng, Yang, Jie, Shi, Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tianjin Tianjin University 01.07.2017; Springer Nature B.V; School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, No. 135 Ya Guan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300354, China%Wuhan Jinzhong Petrochemical Engineering CO., LTD, Wuhan 430223, China
• Subjects: Adsorptivity; Algae; Algae;Hydrothermal; Chemical engineering; Denitrogenation; Engineering; Fossil fuels; Humanities and Social Sciences; Liquefaction; liquefaction;Biocrude;Upgrading;Denitrogenation; Mechanical Engineering; multidisciplinary; Nitrogen; Nitrogen compounds; Process parameters; Review; Science; Toxicity; Biocrude; Hydrothermal liquefaction; Upgrading; Algae; Denitrogenation
• ISSN: 1006-4982; 1995-8196
• DOI: 10.1007/s12209-017-0051-4

Recently, algae biocrude has drawn considerable attention as algae are considered to be one of the major fuel feedstocks of the future. Based on some impressive results achieved under appropriate conditions, the algaehydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process has proven to be energy efficient. However, the HTL of biocrude is characterized by a high nitrogen content, which prevents its use in the field of transportation due to the associated nitrogen oxide emissions. Despite this toxicity, few research efforts have focused on the denitrogenation of algae biocrude. In this study, we review the effect of different strain-specific operation parameters and process upgrades with respect to the nitrogen content of biocrude. To achieve denitrogenation, chemical engineering may be required, although some improvements in biocrude properties have been achieved in number of process upgrades. The use of similar successful pathways has the potential to improve the field of HTL biocrude denitrogenation. These methods, including the adsorptive and extractive denitrogenations of fossil fuels and the hydrodenitrogenation of the main nitrogen compounds, are helpful for developing a better understanding of the potential of denitrogenation for algae HTL biocrude. We also recommend the use of some available catalysts and corresponding operation parameters to promote continued research on denitrogenation.