Yannick Mathieu

Green Diesel from Kraft Lignin in Three Steps

Precipitated kraft lignin from black liquor was converted into green diesel in three steps. A mild Ni-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation/hydrogenolysis using 2-propanol generated a lignin residue in which the ethers, carbonyls, and olefins were reduced. An organocatalyzed esterification of the lignin residue with an in situ prepared tall oil fatty acid anhydride gave an esterified lignin residue that was soluble in light gas oil. The esterified lignin residue was coprocessed with light gas oil in a continous hydrotreater to produce a green diesel. This approach will enable the development of new techniques to process commercial lignin in existing oil refinery infrastructures to standardized transportation fuels in the future.

Production of High Quality Syncrude from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Wood chips were hydrothermally treated in near critical point water in the presence of a catalyst to yield a raw biocrude, containing a wide range of organic components. This product was subsequently distilled to remove its heaviest fraction, which tends to yield chary products if heated above 350 °C. The biocrude obtained has an oxygen content of 12 wt % and was subsequently hydrotreated to obtain a hydrocarbon stream. Varying the hydrotreatment operating conditions and catalyst yielded a deoxygenated syncrude which quality improved with operation severity. The hydroprocessed stream produced under very mild conditions can be further upgraded in conventional refinery operations while the stream produced after more severe hydrotreatment can be mixed with conventional diesel. This proof of concept was demonstrated with commercial hydrotreating catalysts, operating between 350 and 380 °C, 40 to 120 bar pressure and 0.5 to 1 h−1 contact time.

Alternative to visbreaking or delayed coking of heavy crude oil through a short contact time, solid transported bed cracking process

An extra-heavy crude oil was treated at a short contact time in the 510–580 °C temperature range in a FCC-like process, first thermally and then in the presence of a solid with low catalytic activity. The treatment greatly improved the properties of the crude oil, reducing the density and viscosity to values that make the oil transportable without dilution in a pipeline. In addition, the upgraded oil was substantially free of contaminants such as metals and heptane insolubles. The use of the solid allowed upgrading all properties with a minimum coke penalty. The residual fraction of the upgraded oil had to be eliminated to obtain a syncrude stable in asphaltene proof, which could be obtained by recycling to extinction in a cracking reactor.