Bio-oil Vapour Cracking Without Catalysts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for upgrading bio-oil to suitable fuel products face challenges such as char accumulation and energy loss due to high water content and the need for catalysts in co-processing with heavy oils, which complicates reactor maintenance and reduces energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The method involves flowing bio-oil vapour into a reaction zone with hydrocarbon oil and/or hydrocarbon melt, eliminating the need for catalysts and reducing char formation, allowing for fuel production at lower temperatures and enhancing the interaction between bio-oil and hydrocarbon components, thereby producing a 'second generation' bio-fuel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If bio-oil is co-processed with heavy oil in a fluid catalytic cracking unit, then fuel products can be produced, but char accumulates on the surface of the char leading to agglomeration and reactor clogging
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of feeding liquid bio-oil into the cracking reactor where it causes char accumulation, the invention inverts the approach by feeding bio-oil vapour into the reactor. This phase change from liquid to vapour prevents direct contact between bio-oil and the cracking catalyst, thereby eliminating char formation and accumulation while still enabling fuel production through the cracking of hydrocarbon feedstock.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces vapour phase as an intermediary medium between the bio-oil and the cracking process. By converting bio-oil to vapour form before introduction into the reactor, it acts as a mediator that allows bio-oil components to participate in the cracking reaction without causing the harmful char accumulation that occurs with liquid bio-oil feedstock.
2Productivity
If catalysts are used to crack heavy oil in co-processing methods, then cracking reaction proceeds, but reactor maintenance becomes more complex and energy efficiency reduces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the catalyst from the cracking process by feeding bio-oil vapour directly into the reactor without requiring catalytic cracking. This eliminates the need for catalyst management, reducing maintenance complexity while still achieving effective cracking of the hydrocarbon feedstock through thermal decomposition of the vapour phase.
3Ease of manufacture
If thermal cracking methods are used to break down heavy oil, then cracking can occur without catalyst, but high temperatures and high pressures are required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state parameter of bio-oil from liquid to vapour phase, which fundamentally alters the cracking process requirements. This phase change enables the cracking reaction to proceed at lower temperatures and pressures compared to conventional thermal cracking methods, while maintaining process simplicity through direct vapour injection into the reactor.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces char accumulation, eliminates the need for catalysts, and achieves fuel production at lower temperatures, resulting in a bio-derived fuel product with enhanced energy efficiency and broader biomass feedstock suitability.
Implementation Method 1
bio-oil vapour and hydrocarbon oil and/or hydrocarbon melt are heated together, to produce a fuel product
Implementation Method 2
Cracking is the process of breaking down large molecules into smaller ones, typically through a thermal or catalytic method
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a reaction method and apparatus, suitable for producing fuel by reaction of bio-oil with oil and/or melt. The present inventors have found that where bio-oil vapour is flowed into a reaction chamber and heated together with oil/melt (e.g. hydrocarbon oil/melt), a product useful as a fuel (e.g. as a diesel fuel) can be produced. This provides a particularly convenient method for cracking oil/melt. Advantageously, by providing the bio-oil as a vapour, the formation and accumulation of char in the reaction chamber can be reduced or avoided. The bio-oil vapour and the oil and/or melt may be heated together without the addition of a catalyst.