Dynamotive upgrades bio-oil from new feedstocks

Oct. 30, 2009, Richmond, BC – Dynamotive has successfully applied the BINGO bio-oil upgrading process to bio-oils. The bio-oils were produced from a variety of feedstocks, including sugar cane bagasse, bark-rich forest trimmings, softwoods, and palm fronds. The bio-oils upgraded were of widely varying quality and in some instances had been in storage for several years.

The products from stage one of the BINGO upgrading process had similar physico-chemical properties to those produced from hardwoods. Analysis of second-stage upgraded bio-oil samples from hardwoods, previously provided to three independent refiners in Europe and in the Far East, established the potential for development of synthetic hydrocarbon fuels showing gasoline, jet, gasoil, and vacuum gasoil fractions.

The results enhance the prospects of the BINGO process in that they demonstrate its robustness and versatility. Furthermore, they open the possibility of upgrading bio-oils from a variety of biomass sources into a single uniform hydrocarbon product. Dynamotive’s pyrolysis process converts roughly 85% of the total biomass feedstock into useful solid (char) and liquid (bio-oil) fuels. The balance is used to provide energy to the process.

Yields of 37% diesel/gasoline from bio-oil through the stage-two upgrading process have been achieved at bench scale. The net overall yield from whole biomass to diesel/gasoline is approximately 25%.