Ricerc@Sapienza

Hydrothermal liquefaction of oak wood was carried out in tubular micro reactors at different temperatures (280–330 °C), reaction times (10–30 min), and catalyst loads (10–50 wt%) using metallic Ni catalysts. For the first time, to enhance the catalytic activity of Ni particles, a coating technique producing a nanostructured surface was used, maintaining anyway the micrometric dimension of the catalyst, necessary for an easier recovery. The optimum conditions for non-catalytic liquefaction tests was determined to be 330 °C and 10 min with the bio-crude yield of 32.88%.

The biomass conversion into more valuable fuels represents one of the most viable routes for the exploitation of this material. Hydrothermal liquefaction is currently considered one of the most efficient processes to convert wet biomass into a bio-crude, which however requires expensive upgrading treatments to be used as biofuel. The use of catalysts able to directly improve bio-crude yield and quality during the reaction is of fundamental importance to increase the overall process efficiency.