| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MIYAFUJI Hisashi Kyoto University, Graduate School of Energy Science, Socio-Environmental Energy Science, Assistant professor (00293928)
KAWAMOTO Haruo Kyoto University, Graduate School of Energy Science, Socio-Environmental Energy Science, Associate professor (80224864)
ISHIYAMA Takuji Kyoto University, Graduate School of Energy Science, Socio-Environmental Energy Science, Professor (30203037)
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| Research Abstract |
Compared to petroleum, woody biomass resources are bulky and difficult to handle, transport and store. Therefore, liquefaction offers ample opportunities for their advanced utilization by supercritical alcohol treatment. The obtained liquid products in alcohol can he used directly as liquid fuel because alcohol itself is a good fuel. In addition, by using bioalcohol to liquefy wood, 100% biomass-derived liquid fuels can be created. As bioalcohols, not only methanol but also ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-octanol and 1-decanol were selected and, consequently, under the condition of 350℃ with various pressures, all three wood components, cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, were decomposed efficiently in all alcohols. Moreover, alcohols with a longer alkyl chain such as 1-octanol exhibited faster liquefaction with about 95% of the entire wood only in a 3 min treatment. In this short reaction time, high molecular weight products (about 10,000-30,000 in molecular weight) could be obtained in liquid form. In addition, the molecular weight distribution of the products could be regulated by changing the kind of alcohol and/or reaction conditions. These results imply that the supercritical alcohol treatment can convert woody biomass into biofuels and also into sophisticated biodegradable material by means of high energy efficiency.
For the development of a technology applicable for making biofuel from wood, its feasibility needs to be demonstrated for the various alcohol-soluble portions, especially for the 1-octanol-soluble portion. Therefore, an investigation into their ability to ignite and other physical properties such as kinetic viscosity and pour point was made.
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