Electrochemical Upgrading of Pyrolysis Oil
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is set to become a crucial product to decarbonize the aviation industry.
Achieving proprietary technology leadership in this sector will help bp achieve aim 2, 3, and 5 of the sustainability goals. One emerging technology to produce SAF is through electrochemical upgrading of pyrolysis oil, a liquid produced through biomass pyrolysis. Pyrolysis oil is acidic, contains higher water-content than traditional refinery crude feed, and rich in oxygen; all of which hampers storage stability and subsequent processing (often through catalytic upgrading) in a refinery towards finished fuel products. Electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) may offer a pre-treatment option to stabilise the oil by removing oxygen at ambient pressure and a lower temperature compared to refinery processes, hence offering potential energy and cost savings . ECH pre-treatment could thus become an important enabler for improving the trading and storage of biomass pyrolysis oil in a worldwide market, plus it could reduce the subsequent upgrading requirements to process the oil intermediate into SAF-grade
end product, paving the path for a scalable SAF feedstock from biomass. The aim of the proposed PhD project is to gain a fundamental catalytic understanding of electrochemical hydrogenation of pyrolysis oil. The project will aim to answer the following questions:
What are the most valuable targets for ECH pre-treatment from pyrolysis oil?
What is the underpinning mechanism/surface chemistry to perform ECH for pyrolysis oils leading to the preferred products?
Can we engineer a catalyst that is selective to ECH and active for all preferred components?
How do we assess the true catalyst performance and deactivation mechanisms with non-model compounds?
Achieving proprietary technology leadership in this sector will help bp achieve aim 2, 3, and 5 of the sustainability goals. One emerging technology to produce SAF is through electrochemical upgrading of pyrolysis oil, a liquid produced through biomass pyrolysis. Pyrolysis oil is acidic, contains higher water-content than traditional refinery crude feed, and rich in oxygen; all of which hampers storage stability and subsequent processing (often through catalytic upgrading) in a refinery towards finished fuel products. Electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) may offer a pre-treatment option to stabilise the oil by removing oxygen at ambient pressure and a lower temperature compared to refinery processes, hence offering potential energy and cost savings . ECH pre-treatment could thus become an important enabler for improving the trading and storage of biomass pyrolysis oil in a worldwide market, plus it could reduce the subsequent upgrading requirements to process the oil intermediate into SAF-grade
end product, paving the path for a scalable SAF feedstock from biomass. The aim of the proposed PhD project is to gain a fundamental catalytic understanding of electrochemical hydrogenation of pyrolysis oil. The project will aim to answer the following questions:
What are the most valuable targets for ECH pre-treatment from pyrolysis oil?
What is the underpinning mechanism/surface chemistry to perform ECH for pyrolysis oils leading to the preferred products?
Can we engineer a catalyst that is selective to ECH and active for all preferred components?
How do we assess the true catalyst performance and deactivation mechanisms with non-model compounds?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Anthony Kucernak (Primary Supervisor) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/Y528560/1 | 01/10/2023 | 30/09/2028 | |||
| 2888994 | Studentship | EP/Y528560/1 | 16/10/2023 | 15/10/2027 |