Coupling hydrothermal liquefaction and aqueous phase reforming for integrated production of biocrude and renewable H₂

Abstract

Lignin-rich stream from lignocellulosic ethanol production was converted into biocrude by continuous hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) while hydrogen was produced by aqueous phase reforming (APR) of the HTL aqueous by-product. The effects of Na 2 CO 3 and NaOH were investigated both in terms of processability of the feedstock as well as yield and composition of the obtained products. A maximum biocrude yield of 27 wt% was reached in the NaOH-catalyzed runs. A relevant amount of dissolved phenolics were detected in the co-produced aqueous phase (AP), and removed by liquid-liquid extraction using butyl acetate or diethyl ether, preserving the APR catalyst stability and reaching an hydrogen yield up to 146 mmol H 2 L À1 AP. Preliminary mass balances integrating HTL and APR showed that the hydrogen provided by APR may account for up to 46% of the hydrogen amount theoretically required for upgrading the HTL biocrude, thus significantly improving the process performance and sustainability.

Decoupling gaseous hydrogen production from liquid water using a magnetic‐photo‐thermal coupling reactor

“…Figure 3D shows the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under the AMF and other conditions. As shown in Figure 4, the temperature of T/NF‐float system increased to 70°C in few minutes under the AMF condition, thus greatly improving the hydrogen evolution rate 28 . The hydrogen evolution rate was 104.3 μmol h −1 under the AMF condition, 2.3 times higher than that of T/NF‐float system without adding AMF, and 12.2 times of that of the triphase, that is, T/NF‐sink system.…”

“…As shown in Figure 4, the temperature of T/NF-float system increased to 70 C in few minutes under the AMF condition, thus greatly improving the hydrogen evolution rate. 28 The hydrogen evolution rate was 104.3 μmol h À1 under the AMF condition, 2.3 times higher than that of T/NF-float system without adding AMF, and 12.2 times of that of the triphase, that is, T/NF-sink system. Significantly, in comparison to the similar reaction that was set at 70 C yet without AMF, the magnetic-thermal coupling effect is obvious.…”

Molecular Ruthenium Cyclopentadienone Bifunctional Catalysts for the Conversion of Sugar Platforms to Hydrogen

“…In this framework different polyols and sugars have been used as feedstock for aqueous phase reforming, such as ethylene glycol, glycerol, xylitol, fructose and glucose [6,8,11,12,15,16,17,18,19] . The latter is of particular interest as it can be directly obtained from cellulose by hydrolysis [20,21,22,23] .…”

Metal‐organic framework stabilizes Cu7S4‐wrapped Cu2O heterostructure for photothermal‐promoted methanol/water reforming into hydrogen

“…Methanol (CH 3 OH) as a safe and inexpensive liquid organic hydrogen storage carrier with high H 2 capacity (12.6 wt%), is considered as an ideal candidate toward addressing the storage and transportation issues for H 2 energy utilization 5 . Thermocatalytic aqueous‐phase reforming of methanol (APRM) with production of 3 mol of H 2 from 1 mol of CH 3 OH is an attractive process (Equation ()) due to green and cheap reforming mediator (H 2 O) and the relatively milder conditions (200–250°C, 1.5–5.0 MPa), 4,6 thus promoting economic efficiency. …”

“…Hydrogen (H 2 ) production, storage and transportation as the core of novel H 2 economy have gained extensive attentions in both industry and academia 1–4 . Methanol (CH 3 OH) as a safe and inexpensive liquid organic hydrogen storage carrier with high H 2 capacity (12.6 wt%), is considered as an ideal candidate toward addressing the storage and transportation issues for H 2 energy utilization 5 .…”