A review of gasification of bio-oil for gas production

The commercial production of advanced fuels based on bio-oil gasification could be promising because the cost-effective transport of bio-oil could promote large-scale implementation of this biomass technology. So far there has been no specialized review of bio-oil gasification processes, including non-catalytic partial oxidation of bio-oil for syngas production and steam gasification of bio-oil for hydrogen production. A detailed and comprehensive review of gasification of bio-oil for gas production is presented in this paper. The background and significance of bio-oil research, the characteristics of bio-oil suitable for gasification, bio-oil gasification theory, types and configurations of bio-oil gasifiers, the quality of the product gas, parameter effects, and economic evaluation of bio-oil gasification are discussed, and finally a summary and future outlook are also delivered. Particular emphasis is placed on the discussion regarding the atomization of entrained flow gasifiers and their advantages, gas composition and the economic feasibility of production of advanced fuels via bio-oil gasification. Challenges for the future are identified as follows: (1) making full use of the experience accumulated in the area of petroleum refining; (2) practical demonstration of bio-oil gasification on a scale of 500 to 1000 kg bio-oil per hour; (3) the development of mathematical models for bio-oil gasification systems; and (4) development of suitable catalysts and profoundly understanding the catalyst deactivation mechanism at different stages for steam gasification of bio-oil.