In the present study, bio-crude was produced via hydrothermal liquefaction of agricultural wastes (waste wheat flour and canola residue) that are abundantly available locally in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Characterization of the bio-crude revealed that the bio-crude contains a high amount of oxygen (9.3 wt.%) that reduces the heating value for transportation applications. Boiling point distribution studies confirmed that, more than 90 % of the bio-crude is in the range of heavy gas oil and light vacuum gas oil; therefore, it could be upgraded into liquid transportation fuels (diesel and gasoline). To process the bio-crude alongside conventional crude oil via a co-refining approach, bio-crude was blended with several refinery fractions (heavy gas oils and light gas oils) to identify the appropriate refinery fraction for co-refining. Hydrotreated heavy gas oil was found to be the appropriate refinery fraction for the bio-crude blending and upgradation into liquid transportation fuels through hydrotreatment. The main objective of the present study was, catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of 10 wt.% of the bio-crude and hydrotreated heavy gas oil (90 wt.%) blend to reduce the oxygen content. Bio-residue supported molybdenum carbide catalysts were synthesized via the Carbothermal Hydrogen Reduction method and evaluated for oxygen reduction efficiency. Further, catalytic hydrodeoxygenation process parameters were optimized to determine the effects of process parameters such as temperature, pressure, reaction time, and catalyst loading on oxygen reduction efficiency. The characterization results revealed that the bio-residue supported molybdenum catalyst had the highest number of strongly acidic sites, the highest concentration of β-Mo<sub>2</sub>C on its surface, BET surface area of 118 m<sup>2</sup>/g, and average pore size of 9.7 nm. The oxygen reduction percentage for the said catalyst was found to be 59.8% for hydrodeoxygenation that was carried out at 325 °C and 5 MPa for 2 h with a catalyst loading of 4% w/w.

Catalytic upgradation of bio-crude produced via hydrothermal liquefaction

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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