ARF20 - New homogeneous ruthenium and iron-based catalysts for the hydrogenation of seed and pyrolysis bio-oils to 2nd and 3rd generation bio-diesel

| Alternative Renewable Fuels - Project Summaries 2007-08 |

Researcher:

Dr. Marcel Schlaf, Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Guelph

Objectives:

1. Synthesis and functional characterization of high-temperature stable homogeneous ruthenium- and iron- based hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis catalysts.

2. Evaluation and testing of these catalysts on aldehyde, ketone, ester and ether model systems representative of the chemical composition of triglycerides and pyrolysis bio-oils.

3. Evaluation and testing of these catalysts for the total hydrogenation/ hydrogenolysis of a) seed oils (soy, corn, canola) and rendered animal fat (cow, chicken, swine) to oxygen free non-ester based (i.e., pure alkane) 2nd generation Bio-Diesel and b) pyrolysis bio-oil to 3rd generation bio-Diesel and bio-kerosene.

4. Analysis protocol development (by GC, GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS, NMR, IR) for reaction mixture and product analysis.

5. Lab-scale process development for the technical implementation of the catalysts in high-pressure hydrogenation reactors.
   

Expected Benefits:

2nd generation bio-Diesel: The hydrogenation of esters to alcohols and alkanes is an extremely challenging, but also economically very attractive target in biomass conversion, as the direct and total hydrogenation of food oils would lead to 2nd generation bio-Diesel consisting of pure C16-C20 alkane fractions. The great advantages of 2nd generation bio-Diesel are that it can produced in a continuous process that does not generate inorganic salt wastes and that it is chemically identical to or better than petroleum Diesel, while being 100 % sulfur free. It is a very clean burning high-value fuel with very cetane numbers (84-99) meeting or exceeding all existing automotive standards, i.e., it does not require engine modifications, has no storage stability problems, has higher energy content than FAME bio-Diesel on a per weight and per volume basis and is ideally suited for application in cold climate areas such as Canada thus creating new market opportunities for Ontario or Canadian grown seed-oils.

3rd generation bio-Diesel: A hydrogenation upgrade would increase the chemical quality of the fuel to a point where it could be used in Diesel or Jet engines (bio-kerosene), thus creating an entirely new market and revenue stream for both farmers and forestry companies using materials that presently have no or little market value. As the processing of biomass into fuel is economically and ecologically viable only within ~ 100 km of its production, the creation of an integrated field-to-fuel process would also trigger the building of small to medium scale local processing and fuel refining plants that should have a very positive effect on the overall rural economy in Ontario, both in the agricultural areas of the Southwestern peninsula between Lakes Huron and Erie/Ontario as well as the forestry industry dependent North.

Summary of results:

Currently not available