CELLULOSE BIOMASS LIQUEFACTION CONDITIONS IN MECHANOCATALYTIC DEPOLYMERIZATION PROCESS.

This paper presents the results of research into biomass liquefaction conditions in mechanocatalytic depolymerization process in a reactor of pump with a rotating liquid ring construction. Various methods allow to process cellulose biomass in liquid synthetic hydrocarbons (second generation biofuels). The most popular of them rely on gasification/pyrolysis process and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis; or enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Less known, but also promising method, relying on mechanocatalytic depolymerization process, was used by Koch in the KDV technology and it was tested on a few pilot installations. However, research results published until now concern basically only thus obtained product quality, and theoretical comparisons with other methods. Nowadays, in this method are being used reactors of pump construction with deliberately lowered efficiency. That makes friction warm up raw material mixtures, and causes biomass mechanical degradation. Both phenomena are welcome from the point of view of process conditions. The paper presents research results relevant to a liquid ring pump conducted in terms of identifying mechanical influences on liquefaction process. The research was performed in industrial conditions on a 1:1 scale reactor (in reference to a reactor in pilot installations). The conducted results analysis allows to point at major mechanical degradation influence of biomass particles on liquefaction process efficiency. Moreover, the research results may be used to show the required consumption level energy in the process of processing biomass in liquid synthetic hydrocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]