The Products of Direct Liquefaction of Biomass

Wood is converted to a dense liquid fuel by thermal treatment at 300–360 °C under a pressure of water and reducing gas in the presence of aqueous alkali. The product includes both an oil phase and an aqueous phase rich in dissolved organics. Previous work1 showed that the oil phase has little in common with petroleum fuels, and the standard methods of petroleum chemistry are therefore largely inapplicable. Thus there existed a need for new methods for the fractionation of biomass oils into constituent chemical classes for the purpose of assessing comparative product quality and evaluating the best end uses and upgrading options.