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Updated: May 1, 2026

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Renewable biofuel additives from the ozonolysis of lignin
Christopher J Chuck1, Heather J Parker, Rhodri W Jenkins
1Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. C.Chuck@bath.ac.uk
Abstract:
In this investigation ozonolysis in the presence of ethanol was used to depolymerise lignin, resulting in a low conversion of oxygenated aromatics over short reaction times, or a range of saturated esters over 24 h. Short chain oxygenates can be used as fuel additives, displacing a percentage of a hydrocarbon fuel while leading to improvement in some of the fuel properties. The utility of the resulting bio-oils was therefore assessed by blending with a range of fuels. Guaiacol, a potential antioxidant, was formed over short reaction times and was found to be completely miscible with low-sulphur petrol (ULSP), diesel, aviation kerosene and rapeseed methyl ester. The mainly aliphatic proportion of the bio-oil produced over 24 h could be blended with the fuels replacing a maximum of 12-17 wt.% of the hydrocarbon fuel.
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