Hydrothermal liquefaction of cellulose in ammonia/water

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2019-04, Vol.278, p.311-317
• Main Authors: Xu, Zhi-Xiang, Cheng, Jin-Hong, He, Zhi-Xia, Wang, Qian, Shao, Yue-Wen, Hu, Xun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia; Cellulose; Hydrothermal liquefaction; N-heterocyclic compounds; Reaction pathways
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.061

•Hydrothermal liquefaction of cellulose produced N-containing organics.•Temperature showed more influence than reaction time on solid residue formation.•Composition of bio-oil was affected by both reaction temperature and reaction time.•ESI FT-ICR MS provided insight in distribution of N-heterocycle compounds in bio-oil. In order to obtain the N-containing organics from cellulose under mild conditions, hydrothermal liquefaction of cellulose in the presence of ammonia was conducted in this study. The results showed that the increasing reaction temperature and prolonging time facilitated the conversion of cellulose in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) with NH3·H2O and decreased the amount of solid residue. Reaction temperature showed more influence than reaction time on solid residue formation. The components of bio-oil were significantly affected by reaction temperature and reaction time. Electrospray ionization-Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR MS) provided an insight for understanding the distribution of the different kinds of N-heterocycle compounds in the bio-oil. The possible reaction pathway of N-heterocycle compounds formation from cellulose during hydrothermal liquefaction with NH3·H2O was proposed.