Renewable heating fuel oil
More stable and valuable bio-oil produced from biomasses are provided. More specifically, more stable and valuable bio-oil useful as heating oil, alone or in combination with an oxygenated acyclic component, is provided. Particularly, various embodiments of the present invention provide for a bio-oil having sufficient heating value and stability to be useful as heating oil, alone or in combination with an oxygenated acyclic component, without the need to hydrotreat the bio-oil or use a similar deoxygenating process.
1. A renewable heating fuel oil composition comprising:
a) a first component comprising a bio-oil derived from the thermochemical conversion of biomass, wherein the bio-oil comprises: i) an oxygenated component having an oxygen content of at least about 5 wt %, and ii) a non-oxygenated component having an aromatic content of at least about 25 wt %;
b) a second component comprising an oxygenated acyclic component comprising open chain molecules having 12 or more carbon atoms per molecule; and
wherein the renewable heating fuel oil composition has a heating value of at least about 14,000 Btu/lb.
2. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the oxygen content of the oxygenated component of the bio-oil is from about 10 to about 30 wt %.
3. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the oxygen content of the renewable heating fuel oil composition is from about 5 to about 30 wt %.
4. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the aromatic content of the non-oxygenated component of the bio-oil is from about 30 to about 70 wt %.
5. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the oxygenated component is present in the bio-oil in the range of from about 10 to about 90 wt %.
6. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the non-oxygenated component is present in the bio-oil in the range of from about 20 to about 60 wt %.
7. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the non-oxygenated aromatic content of the renewable heating fuel oil composition is from about 3 to about 60 wt %.
8. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the non-oxygenated aromatic content of the renewable heating fuel oil composition is from about 25 to about 60 wt %.
9. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the first component is present in the renewable heating fuel oil composition in the range of from about 50 to about 99 wt %; and wherein the second component is present in the renewable heating fuel oil composition in the range of from about 0.5 to about 50 wt %.
10. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the bio-oil is present in the renewable heating fuel oil composition in the range of from about 60 to about 95 wt %; and wherein the oxygenated acyclic component is present in the renewable heating fuel oil composition in the range of from about 5 to about 40 wt %.
11. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the second component is selected from the group consisting of: a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), biodiesel, biomass-derived diesel, an at least partially upgraded bio-oil derived from the at least partial deoxygenation of a portion of the bio-oil, and combinations thereof.
12. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 11 wherein the at least partially upgraded bio-oil comprises less than about 20 wt % oxygen.
13. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the second component has a heating value of at least about 14,000 Btu/lb.
14. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the open chain molecules having 12 or more carbon atoms per molecule are present in the second component in an amount of from about 70 to about 99 wt %.
15. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the open chain molecules having 12 or more carbon atoms per molecule are present in the renewable heating fuel oil composition in an amount of from about 3 to about 50 wt %.
16. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the renewable heating fuel oil composition is used as a fuel for a furnace, boiler, combustor, thermal oxidizer, turbine, or stove.
17. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the thermochemical conversion of the biomass to produce the bio-oil does not include an oxygen-removing hydrotreatment step.
18. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 having a stability parameter of less than about 15 cp/h.
19. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 18 having a stability parameter of less than about 10 cp/h.
20. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 having a heating value of at least about 15,000 Btu/lb.
21. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 having a heating value of at least about 16,000 Btu/lb.
22. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein at least about 50 wt % of the renewable heating fuel oil composition has a boiling point from about 180° C. to about 380° C.
23. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein at least about 60 wt % of the renewable heating fuel oil composition has a boiling point from about 180° C. to about 380° C.
24. The renewable heating fuel oil composition of claim 1 wherein the bio-oil is produced by a process comprising:
a) converting at least a portion of the biomass in an oxygen-poor environment in the presence of a catalyst material at a temperature in the range of from about 200° C. to about 1000° C. to produce a reaction product stream containing the bio-oil; and
b) separating the bio-oil from the reaction product stream; wherein steps a) and b) do not include an oxygen-removing hydrotreatment step.