(207f) Separations of Organic Acids From Pyrolysis Bio-Oil

Organic acids, such as acetic acid and formic acid, are the major components in bio-oil after water and hydroxyacetaldehyde.  These organic acids and inorganic salts are formed as byproducts during pyrolysis.    Stability and acidity of bio-oil have been major technology hurdles that cause problems in storage and transportation of pyrolysis bio-oil and the causes are attributable to the combination of water, mineral salts and organic acids contained with other organic constituents of bio-oil.    The carboxylic acid group also influences the quality of intermediates for bio-oil upgrading to hydrocarbon fuels.  Therefore, removing and converting the acid from bio-oil into other stable intermediates for upgrading to hydrocarbon fuel will provide solution to address multiple technical hurdles.  In this presentation, we will discuss the effects of organic acid removal from pyrolysis bio-oil on the bio-oil stability and acidity.   Water extraction was used to stabilize the oil phase of bio-oil by removing water soluble compounds, including the acids, into the aqueous phase.  Near 70 wt.% of the biomass was in the aqueous phase.  We will discuss the results of acids recovery from the aqueous phase of bio-oil using a proprietary resin wafer electrodeionization (RW-EDI) technology.    Different approaches to convert the recovered organic acids in aqueous phase into stable intermediates for upgrading to hydrocarbon fuel will be presented.