Liquefaction of Oak Wood Using Various Solvents for Bio-oil Production

Rapidly increasing global energy demand resulting from the growing population and worldwide development has increased the consumption of limited fossil fuel. The usage causes severe environmental deterioration by CO₂ emission, which has sparked interest in finding green, renewable, and sustainable alternative sources of energy. Bio-oil, derived from several biomasses via liquefaction, is a promising candidate to replace fossil fuels. Turkey's land (27%) is covered with forested areas (consisting of mostly oak trees). Therefore, it has great potential for cheap lignocellulosic feedstock forest residues from industrial applications and harvesting. In the present study, the thermal liquefaction of oak wood particles (OWP) was performed using various solvents in addition to water, namely, ethanol, 1-butanol, and 1,4-dioxane. The experiments were carried out in a batch reactor for 1 and 2 h residence times at different temperatures (210, 240, and 270 °C). Bio-oil samples obtained at 270 °C and a 1 h residence time determined as optimum conditions were analyzed with TGA, CHNS elemental analysis, FTIR, and GC-MS. 1,4-Dioxane showed the best performance in yielding the maximum bio-oil with 51.8% at those conditions. The higher heating values of the bio-oils ranged from 22.1 to 35 MJ/kg. Phenolic groups were the predominant components of bio-oil produced from OWP, while the intensity of alcohols, ketones, and acids varied based on used solvents. Based on energy recovery calculations, the enhancement of pristine OWP's energy efficiency depended on bio-oil yield, and quality was confirmed for all solvent types (1,4-dioxane > 1-butanol > water > ethanol).