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%.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising technology for the production of high quality bio- crude. Aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the addition of iron powder into the HTL process of oak wood biomass. Fe in HTL conditions should be oxidized by water into Fe 3 O 4 producing H 2 in situ which is responsible for the increase of bio-crude yield. Furthermore, the presence of Fe contributes to enhance bio-crude quality due to the presence of Fe 3 O 4 which is recognized to have catalytic activity in hydrogenation reactions.

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.