(288c) Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Wet Algal Biomass with/without Catalysts

A comprehensive study of hydrothermal liquefaction was conducted with and without catalysts. The strains of algal biomass used in this work were Galdieria sulphueria, Coelastrella and Chlorella sorokiniana. Experimental parameters studied in this work were reaction temperature (180-330^oC), 10-20% biomass loading, molarity (~1.0M), and 30 min. reaction time. HCl and H­₂SO₄, KOH and NaOH have been used as acid and base catalysts in this study. The yields of biocrude oil, bio-char, water soluble compounds and gaseous products were calculated based on the experimental results. The high heating values (HHV) of biocrude oil and bio-char were determined with a bomb calorimeter. The energy recovery calculations were performed based on the HHV values of biocrude oil and bio-char. from the biomass was calculated The biocrude oils and water soluble organics were characterized with High Throughput Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (HT TOF-MS) and GC-MS. Based on the experimental results and biochemical compositions of the biomass used, a theoretical model has been developed to predict the biocrude oil yield.