Fast Pyrolysis Method Converts Waste Wood to Marine Biofuel

Scientists are trying to produce biofuel for marine diesel engines from wood waste through fast pyrolysis at Aston University in the United Kingdom.

Alternative fuels are urgently needed for marine transport due to upcoming regulations demanding reduced sulfur and carbon content in diesels and oils starting in 2015.

Aston University scientists are involved in the ReShip project, which will use low quality wood waste, chippings and unmarketable wood left in forests after logging, to produce new biofuels. The waste wood is heated without oxygen in a fast pyrolysis process which converts it into crude pyrolysis oil. However, crude pyrolysis oil cannot be directly used in diesel engines due to unstability. The university said that its team, led by Professor Tony Bridgwater, will look to stabilize freshly produced pyrolysis biofuel through catalytic hydrogen treatment.

"This project will establish a knowledge platform for cost-effective production of all new sustainable fuels which have the potential to completely alter marine travel," explained Professor Bridgwater, director of the European Bioenergy Research Institute at Aston University.