Fuel Quality from Thermochemical Conversion and Biological Treatment of Biomass

Abstract

Biomass has been highlighted as an increasingly important renewable alternative energy source. Nonrenewable conventional energy sources covering global energy demands are processed to form solid, liquid, and gaseous hydrocarbons. Their environmental impact has led to the exploration of different types of biomasses for their potential to be used as raw materials. The present work reviews thermochemical processes, including pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, and torrefaction, on the conversion of biomass and plastic waste to gas, liquid, and solid fuels and chemicals. Upgrading some of the characteristics of bio-oil with various technologies has increased the interest in commercializing the usage of biomass in applications. In addition, biological conversion of biomass using second-generation feedstock instead of first-generation feedstock has decreased the cost and competition with food crops. The pretreatment of biomass using physical, chemical, physicochemical, and biological technologies is a typical process before biological conversion. Moreover, this work discusses biofuel production using syngas as feedstock through the Fischer–Tropsch process and organic acids as a feedstock for oleaginous microorganisms, including many species of yeast, bacteria, and algae.