(147a) Effect of Various Species of Woody Biomass On Bio-Oil Properties and Its Correlations

Lignocellulosic biomass has received significant attention due to the limited reserve of petroleum and the increasing energy consumption. Woody biomass is an ideal renewable resource in terms of high bulk density, steady constituents, and great amounts of reserves. Fast pyrolysis has shown a great potential to convert biomass into intermediate bio-oil for transportation fuels and chemicals. The physicochemical properties of biomass are important for thermochemical process, affecting both the process efficiency and product properties. However, the detailed relationship is not fully understood. Moreover, there are few reports on the prediction of bio-oil properties based on feedstock characteristics. This study aims to extensively explore the correlations among feedstock characteristics (e.g. proximate and ultimate analysis, inorganic content and composition, chemical composition analysis) with thermochemical reactivity (e.g. bio-oil yield, pyrolytic activation energy) and bio-oil properties (e.g. oxygen content, stability, chemical composition). Several hardwoods (eucalyptus, sweet gum, beech, sourwood, red maple, acacia), hardwood barks, softwood (loblolly pine), and non-woody biomass (switchgrass, miscanthus) were used in this study. Based on the sequential data of “biomass-pyrolysis-bio-oil”, correlations among these parameters were developed, which could be useful to better understand the process and screen the feedstocks. The results from this work are building a bridge between feedstock characteristics and its thermochemical reactivity to produce valuable bio-oil intermediate.