Page 97 - Laboratorios, Equipos e Instalaciones en España disponibles para el Sector Ferroviario

PYROLYSIS & HDO PILOT PLANT

IMDEA ENERGY INSTITUTE

DESCRIPTION AND GOALS OF THE ORGANISATION

Pilot plant for the production and development of advanced liquid biofuels
(similar to gasoline, diesel and kerosene) from lignocellulosic biomass.
This pilot plant consists of two main sections: pyrolysis and
HydroDeOxygenation, HDO, which are able to work independently or in
series.
This plant is designed to operate continuously for long periods of time at a
steady state in any of its operation modes, and this fact increases the
reliability and representativeness of the experimental results. Moreover, it is
fully automatic and programmable with regards to safety aspects, operation
and data collection.

AREAS OF ACTIVITY
t Preparation (milling and sieving) of any kind of biomass t Studies of the catalytic activity of any catalyst
t Characterization: proximate and ultimate analyses t Assesment of the long term stability of catalysts

t Thermal/catalytic pyrolysis of biomass
t HDO of bio-oil from biomass pyrolysis or vegetable oils

TEST FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, TYPES OF TESTING AND/OR 53*"-4

The PYROLYSIS section is which capable of processing a biomass feed of up to 1.5 kg/h, is where biomass
flash-pyrolysis is performed. It consists of a fluidized bed reactor, in which the biomass sample is fed by an auger
distributor from a two interconnected hoppers system and fluidized, together with a sand bed, using a pre-heated N2
flow. In addition, it has a heated system of three cyclones in series, followed by a bio-oil condenser (shell-tubes heat
exchanger) and a double-filter cold gas cleaning system. The bio-oil fraction production is maximized by selecting the
most adequate operation conditions. In addition to the liquid fraction, two other products are obtained: a carbonaceous
solid residue (char), and a non-condensable gas mixture (CO, CO2, etc.), which is analyzed in a continuous mode by a
micro-GC. The HDO section is able to process a bio-oil or vegetable oil feed of up to 1.5 L/h. It consists of a downdraft
fixedbed reactor in which the catalyst is loaded. H2 and bio-oil feeds are pre-heated and introduced from the top of the
reactor. The reaction products from the reactor bottom, are continuously separated by a gas/liquid separation system.
This reactor is employed for the evaluation of the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalytic activity of different systems under
high-pressure of hydrogen (up to 50 atm) to produce advanced liquid biofuels.
Analysis and characterization techniques for biomass and reaction products:
ā Bio-oil & vegetable oils: composition (chromatography: GC-FID and GC/MS); elemental micro analysis (CHNS-O);
H2O content (KF titration)
ā Gas: gas chromatography (micro-GC)
ā Biomass & char: elemental micro analysis (CHNS-O); volatile matter and thermogravimetry (TGA); ash content
(muffle); surface area (BET)
Biomass conditioning. Cutter mill (0.25-20 mm); automatic sieving (0.25-4 mm); stove for drying and moisture
determination.
Characterization techniques of catalysts: Surface area (BET); thermogravimetry (TGA); X ray diffraction (XRD); thermal
programmed reduction/oxidation (TPR/TPO); inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP); scanning electron
microscopy (SEM); transmission electron microscopy (TEM); Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), etc.

ADDRESS CONTACT PERSON
Avda. Ramón de la Sagra, 3 Parque Tecnológico de Móstoles Juan Coronado
28935 Móstoles, Madrid (Spain) Thermochemical Processes Unit
Tel.: +34 91 737 11 20 fax +34 91 737 11 40 Tel.: +34 91 737 11 42
www.energy.imdea.org Email:juanmanuel.coronado@imdea.org