Microalgae Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading: 2022 State of Technology

Zhu, Y.; Xu, Y.; Schmidt, A.; Thorson, M.; Cronin, D.; Santosa, D.; Edmundson, S.; Li, S.; Snowden-Swan, L.; Valdez, P. (2023). Microalgae Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading: 2022 State of Technology (Report No. PNNL-34032). Report by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).https://doi.org/10.2172/1962867

@techreport{Zhu-2023-4071,
author = {Zhu, Y and Xu, Y and Schmidt, A and Thorson, M and Cronin, D and Santosa, D and Edmundson, S and Li, S and Snowden-Swan, L and Valdez, P},
title = {Microalgae Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading: 2022 State of Technology},
institution = {Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)},
year = {2023},
month = {mar},
number = {PNNL-34032},
doi = {10.2172/1962867},
url = {https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-36528.pdf},
keywords = {Microalgae, Bio-crude, Thermochemical, Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA), Fuel Properties and Characteristics, Fuel Production Pathways},
}

TY - RPRT
TI - Microalgae Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading: 2022 State of Technology
AU - Zhu, Y
AU - Xu, Y
AU - Schmidt, A
AU - Thorson, M
AU - Cronin, D
AU - Santosa, D
AU - Edmundson, S
AU - Li, S
AU - Snowden-Swan, L
AU - Valdez, P
AB - A preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) was developed for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 state of technology (SOT) assessment to evaluate the benefits and risks of using demonstrated, high-productivity algae strains for fuels generation, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In 2022, the marine algal strain, Picochlorum celeri, which demonstrated the highest outdoor biomass productivities reported to date in the DOE-funded open-pond raceway testbed at the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI), was tested for continuous hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) processing at PNNL. HTL testing results demonstrated a biocrude yield of 0.33 g/g algae on an ash-free dry weight (AFDW) basis from P. celeri. The hydrotreatment testing of the HTL biocrude from P. celeri was also conducted to investigate the production of jet fuel from marine algal biomass. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of jet fuel production from autotrophically grown marine algal biomass. The current hydrotreating testing demonstrated approximately 22.7 wt% of the hydrotreated oil within the typical boiling-point range of jet fuel (150–250 °C). Initial testing of the jet fuel cut (JFC) showed that the physical properties under investigation were within typical ranges for petroleum-based jet fuels. The experimental work of this study closes the gap between outdoor algae cultivation and algae conversion to critical transportation fuels using the same algae strain for both cultivation and conversion testing. The continuous HTL and the upgrading testing described herein demonstrate the potential of producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from algae cultivated in open-pond systems using the primary inputs of sunlight and carbon dioxide.
DA - 2023/03//
PY - 2023
SP - 31
PB - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
SN - PNNL-34032
UR - https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-36528.pdf
DO - 10.2172/1962867
LA - English
KW - Microalgae
KW - Bio-crude
KW - Thermochemical
KW - Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA)
KW - Fuel Properties and Characteristics
KW - Fuel Production Pathways
ER -