Renewable fuels via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of lipid-based feedstocks

Abstract

Energy security concerns have led to the search for alternative and renewable energy resources. Biomass with high lipid content is an attractive feedstock for producing renewable fuels. Biomass-derived fats and oils can be readily converted into biodiesel via the well-studied transesterification process. However, owing to the alcohol component of biodiesel, which contains oxygen, it cannot serve as a fully-fledged replacement for conventional petrodiesel. In this respect, renewable diesel obtained via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lipid-based feedstocks is a more attractive and fungible option. This process makes it possible to produce fuels with the chemical composition indistinguishable from that of petroleum-derived products. Since all kinds of biomass have high oxygen content, comprehensive research of the catalytic HDO process arouses great interest. This article aims to review state-of-the-art studies related to the catalytic HDO of lipid-based feedstocks from the last decade. The suitability of microalgae as a feedstock for renewable fuel production, as well as the possible advantages of processing lipid-based feedstocks using aqueous HDO, are also addressed in this review.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like acknowledge the encouragement and support of colleagues at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Old Dominion University (VA, USA) in the preparation of this article.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Special appreciation goes to the Dean of Batten College of Engineering and Technology and the Research Foundation at Old Dominion University (VA, USA) for providing financial support. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.