Pyrolysis oil

This article is about synthetic liquid fuel derived by pyrolysis from biomass. For other uses, see Pyrolysis oil (disambiguation).

Pyrolysis oil, sometimes also known as biocrude or bio-oil, is a synthetic fuel with few industrial application and under investigation as substitute for petroleum. It is obtained by heating dried biomass without oxygen in a reactor at a temperature of about 500 °C (900 °F) with subsequent cooling, separation from the aqueous phase and other processes. Pyrolysis oil is a kind of tar and normally contains levels of oxygen too high to be considered a pure hydrocarbon. This high oxygen content results in non-volatility, corrosiveness, partial miscibility with fossil fuels, thermal instability, and a tendency to polymerize when exposed to air.[1] As such, it is distinctly different from petroleum products. Removing oxygen from bio-oil or nitrogen from algal bio-oil is known as upgrading.[2]

  1. ^ Crocker, Mark (2010). Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Liquid Fuels and Chemicals. Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-84973-035-8.
  2. ^ Lee, James W. (30 August 2012). Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4614-3348-4.