The high content of nitrogen-containing organic compounds (NOCs) in biocrude obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae is one of the most concerning issues on the applications and environment. The biocrude obtained by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) needs further refining optimization, and the high concentration of nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds such as quinoline, pyridine, etc., will poison the catalyst used in the refining process, so that the deactivation of the catalyst will cause great difficulties in refining the biocrude. Moreover, NOCs and sulfides have a competitive relationship in the desulfurization process of biocrude, which inhibits the desulfurization effect. Although there have been many studies on tackling nitrogen-related problems and analyzing reaction mechanisms for some key reactions, there is still no complete and systematic investigation on the overall nitrogen pathway during HTL process.
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Source: Phys.org