Issue 1, 2008
From the journal:

Energy & Environmental Science

Thermochemical biofuel production in hydrothermal media: A review of sub- and supercritical water technologies

Andrew A. Peterson,ab   Frédéric Vogel,b   Russell P. Lachance,c   Morgan Fröling,d   Michael J. Antal, Jr.e  and  Jefferson W. Tester*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
E-mail: testerel@mit.edu

b Laboratory for Energy and Materials Cycles, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland

c United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, USA

d Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden

e Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Abstract

Hydrothermal technologies are broadly defined as chemical and physical transformations in high-temperature (200–600 °C), high-pressure (5–40 MPa) liquid or supercritical water. This thermochemical means of reforming biomass may have energetic advantages, since, when water is heated at high pressures a phase change to steam is avoided which avoids large enthalpic energy penalties. Biological chemicals undergo a range of reactions, including dehydration and decarboxylation reactions, which are influenced by the temperature, pressure, concentration, and presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts. Several biomass hydrothermal conversion processes are in development or demonstration. Liquefaction processes are generally lower temperature (200–400 °C) reactions which produce liquid products, often called “bio-oil” or “bio-crude”. Gasification processes generally take place at higher temperatures (400–700 °C) and can produce methane or hydrogen gases in high yields.

Graphical abstract: Thermochemical biofuel production in hydrothermal media: A review of sub- and supercritical water technologies

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B810100K
Article type
Review Article
Submitted
13 Jun 2008
Accepted
24 Jun 2008
First published
09 Jul 2008

Energy Environ. Sci., 2008,1, 32-65

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Thermochemical biofuel production in hydrothermal media: A review of sub- and supercritical water technologies

A. A. Peterson, F. Vogel, R. P. Lachance, M. Fröling, M. J. Antal, Jr. and J. W. Tester, Energy Environ. Sci., 2008, 1, 32 DOI: 10.1039/B810100K

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