Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass

A pilot-scale continuous flow reactor (CFR) was modified for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algae slurry under subcritical conditions to investigate the feasibility of scaling up from batch to continuous processing. Modifications included a novel dual filter system that can remove solids at syst...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Feng Cheng, Travis Le Doux, Brian Treftz, Scott Woolf, Jiuling Yu, Juanita Miller, Umakanta Jena, Catherine E. Brewer
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier 2019-01-01
Series:	MethodsX
Online Access:	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221501611930322X

id	doaj-d21d0e5580fb44be819eebec7f0b9c65
record_format	Article
spelling	doaj-d21d0e5580fb44be819eebec7f0b9c652020-11-24T23:51:17ZengElsevierMethodsX2215-01612019-01-01627932806Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomassFeng Cheng0Travis Le Doux1Brian Treftz2Scott Woolf3Jiuling Yu4Juanita Miller5Umakanta Jena6Catherine E. Brewer7Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USACorresponding author.; Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001 MSC 3805, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USAA pilot-scale continuous flow reactor (CFR) was modified for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algae slurry under subcritical conditions to investigate the feasibility of scaling up from batch to continuous processing. Modifications included a novel dual filter system that can remove solids at system pressure and temperature, and undergo in-situ cleaning. Commissioning was carried out to address potential particle settling and clogging problems, and to estimate reactor transport characteristics. CFR performance was evaluated by running 31.4 L algae slurry with solids loadings of 3−5 wt.% under 325−350 °C and 18 MPa for 7 h. C and N elemental yields in HTL aqueous phase reached 39.0 wt.% and 61.8 wt.%, respectively. Future improvements to the CFR system will focus on higher solids loading and addition of in-line HTL liquid upgrading capabilities following the filtration system. • A high-temperature, high-pressure filtration system was designed to remove solids from HTL liquid/gaseous products at near reaction conditions to keep heavy oils in the liquid phase. • Uninterrupted reactor operation was achieved by cycling between the dual filter systems and performing in-situ filter cleaning. • Measured reactor residence time distributions were narrow and close to the calculated theoretical mean time. Method name: Pilot-Scale Continuous Flow Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Biomass, Keywords: Hydrothermal liquefaction, Continuous flow reactor, High-pressure filtration, Microalgaehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221501611930322X
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Feng Cheng Travis Le Doux Brian Treftz Scott Woolf Jiuling Yu Juanita Miller Umakanta Jena Catherine E. Brewer
spellingShingle	Feng Cheng Travis Le Doux Brian Treftz Scott Woolf Jiuling Yu Juanita Miller Umakanta Jena Catherine E. Brewer Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass MethodsX
author_facet	Feng Cheng Travis Le Doux Brian Treftz Scott Woolf Jiuling Yu Juanita Miller Umakanta Jena Catherine E. Brewer
author_sort	Feng Cheng
title	Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
title_short	Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
title_full	Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
title_fullStr	Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
title_full_unstemmed	Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
title_sort	modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass
publisher	Elsevier
series	MethodsX
issn	2215-0161
publishDate	2019-01-01
description	A pilot-scale continuous flow reactor (CFR) was modified for hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algae slurry under subcritical conditions to investigate the feasibility of scaling up from batch to continuous processing. Modifications included a novel dual filter system that can remove solids at system pressure and temperature, and undergo in-situ cleaning. Commissioning was carried out to address potential particle settling and clogging problems, and to estimate reactor transport characteristics. CFR performance was evaluated by running 31.4 L algae slurry with solids loadings of 3−5 wt.% under 325−350 °C and 18 MPa for 7 h. C and N elemental yields in HTL aqueous phase reached 39.0 wt.% and 61.8 wt.%, respectively. Future improvements to the CFR system will focus on higher solids loading and addition of in-line HTL liquid upgrading capabilities following the filtration system. • A high-temperature, high-pressure filtration system was designed to remove solids from HTL liquid/gaseous products at near reaction conditions to keep heavy oils in the liquid phase. • Uninterrupted reactor operation was achieved by cycling between the dual filter systems and performing in-situ filter cleaning. • Measured reactor residence time distributions were narrow and close to the calculated theoretical mean time. Method name: Pilot-Scale Continuous Flow Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Biomass, Keywords: Hydrothermal liquefaction, Continuous flow reactor, High-pressure filtration, Microalgae
url	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221501611930322X
work_keys_str_mv	AT fengcheng modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT travisledoux modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT briantreftz modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT scottwoolf modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT jiulingyu modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT juanitamiller modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT umakantajena modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass AT catherineebrewer modificationofapilotscalecontinuousflowreactorforhydrothermalliquefactionofwetbiomass
_version_	1725476640986759168

Modification of a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor for hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass

Similar Items