Pyrolysis oils produced from biomass are investigated because they appear to have an excellent potential as refinery feedstocks and some potential for blending into finished fuels. A significant concern in bio-oil production is its high oxygen content and high acidity generated from the degradation of hemicellulose. Also it is known that bio oils are insoluble in hydrocarbons, unstable and can polymerize. For these reasons biomass pyrolysis oils have to be upgraded so that they are stable for using as a refinery feedstock or fuel. As a consequence it is required to characterize and identify physicochemical analysis and analytical values of the acidity and the oxygenated species that are present in the bio oils. Ecopetrol S.A. have been studying bio-oils using gas chromatography with limited information as a result. It has been shown that bio-oils are extremely complex and are a composed by a mixture of oxygenated compounds. Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR MS) thanks to its high resolution, mass resolving power and mass accuracy that allows the assignment of a unique elemental composition to each peak in the mass spectrum has become a frequently used method for probing the composition of complex mixtures. In this study comprehensive composition analysis using negative ion ESI FT-ICR MS is performed for pyrolysis bio-oil and its solvent fractions enabling us to take valuable information of oxygenated species into careful consideration in the determination of its qualities and how to optimize the processes.

Characterization of sugar cane biomass fast pyrolysis bio-oils and its distillated fractions by negative-ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

246th National Meeting (2013)

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