Title
Co-liquefaction of cellulosic biomass and polypropylene to produce liquid fuel
Authors
TAKUYA ITO YUSUKE KAKUTA KATSUMI HIRANO KOJI YOSHIDA SHOUZO ITAGAKI MASAHIKO KAJIOKA HIDEKI YAMADA and TOSHIHIKO OKADA

Received January 16, 2014
Published Volume 49 Issue 5-6 May-June
Keywords wood biomass, waste plastic, co-liquefaction, liquid fuel, solvent circulation process

Abstract
The development of efficient technologies for the conversion of cellulosic biomass to liquid fuels is an important research area. At present, liquefaction plants are investigating the use of small-scale, simple processes that convert a combination of cellulosic biomass and waste plastics into high quality light oil at low pressures and temperatures, using a solvent-based approach. This paper describes the co-liquefaction of cellulosic biomass (ground Japanese cedar) with waste plastic (polypropylene) at 400 °C and summarizes the effects of the added plastic on the yield and quality of the resulting oil. The data obtained through this work demonstrate that co-liquefaction results in a higher conversion of the starting materials than is the case for either pure cellulosic biomass or polypropylene.