PROCESS FOR THE SELECTIVE DE-OXYGENATION OF BIOMASS
A reactive distillation process is disclosed for the selective oxygenation of a biomass. The biomass may be a ligno-cellulosic biomass, or a bio-oil. The process comprises the steps of contacting a biomass slurry with a particulate inorganic material, and heating the mixture to its boiling point. In a preferred embodiment water vapors emanated from the process are collected and condensed to provide a source of fresh water.
1 . A reactive distillation process for the selective de-oxygenation of a biomass, said process comprising the steps of:
a) providing a slurry comprising biomass and water;
b) contacting the biomass with a particulate inorganic material;
c) heating the slurry to its boiling point.
2 . The process of claim 1 wherein the biomass is selected from the group consisting of a bio-oil, a lignocellulosic biomass, or combinations thereof.
3 . The process of claim 2 wherein step b) comprises exerting mechanical action on the biomass in the presence of the particulate inorganic material.
4 . The process of claim 3 wherein the mechanical action comprises kneading, milling, crushing, extruding, or a combination thereof.
5 . The process of claim 1 wherein the inorganic particulate material is an alkaline material selected from Al, Mg, Ca, or a combination thereof.
6 . The process of claim 1 wherein the slurry of step c) further comprises a soluble alkaline material.
7 . The process of claim 6 wherein the soluble alkaline material comprises K or Na.
8 . The process of claim 7 wherein the soluble alkaline material is NaOH or Na 2 CO 3 .
9 . The process of claim 1 wherein the boiling temperature is less than 250° C.
10 . The process of claim 1 wherein the slurry of step a) comprises sea water.
11 . The process of claim 1 wherein water vapor formed in step c) is collected and condensed to fresh water.
12 . The process of claim 1 wherein step c) produces a water vapor stream, CO 2 , a light gas stream, a gaseous bio-oil stream, a liquid bio-oil stream, and a tar-like slurry.
13 . The process of claim 1 wherein CO is added to step c) for de-oxygenation of the biomass.
14 . The process of claim 12 wherein the tar-like slurry is burned to form heat and ash.
15 . The process of claim 14 wherein at least part of the ash is added to the slurry of step c).
16 . The process of claim 1 wherein step c) is carried out in a distillation column.
17 . The process of claim 16 wherein the distillation column contains catalytic packing material.
18 . The process of claim 1 wherein step c) is carried out at sub-atmospheric pressure.
19 . The process of claim 11 wherein heat dissipated by the condensing water is used to pre-heat the slurry of step c).
20 . The process of claim 1 wherein the particulate inorganic material is selected from the group consisting of clay, layered metal hydroxy-oxides, zeolites, aluminas, silica-aluminas, hydrotalcite and hydrotalcite-like materials, and mixtures thereof.