生物原油提煉路上的攔路虎——廢水

Oil produced from biomass can provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. But technological challenges make it difficult to scale up production and make it economically viable.

生物質(zhì)能產(chǎn)生的石油可以作為化石燃料的可持續(xù)替代品。但技術(shù)上的挑戰(zhàn)使其難以擴大生產(chǎn)規(guī)模，并使其在經(jīng)濟上的可行性變得困難。

One technology known as hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) allows for production of biocrude oil from wet biomass such as algae, food waste, or animal manure. This process sidesteps costly drying procedures; however, it creates a wastewater byproduct that is considered an environmental hazard.

一種被稱為熱液液化(HTL)的技術(shù)，可以從海藻、食物垃圾或動物糞便等濕生物質(zhì)中生產(chǎn)生物原油。這個過程避免了昂貴的干燥程序;然而，它產(chǎn)生的廢水副產(chǎn)品被認(rèn)為是一種環(huán)境危害。

A new study from the University of Illinois discusses methods to manage this wastewater, providing a possible path to commercially viable production.

伊利諾伊大學(xué)的一項新研究討論了處理這些廢水的方法，為商業(yè)化生產(chǎn)提供了可能的途徑。

Jamison Watson, doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at U of I, says the study provides a comprehensive overview of current wastewater treatment methods that can help producers and researchers going forward.

加州大學(xué)農(nóng)業(yè)和生物工程系的博士生Jamison Watson說，這項研究提供了當(dāng)前廢水處理方法的全面概述，可以幫助生產(chǎn)者和研究人員向前邁進(jìn)。

HTL techniques are still in the exploratory phase. But as oil becomes more expensive and more scarce, Watson predicts that will change.

HTL技術(shù)仍處于探索階段。但是隨著石油變得更加昂貴和稀缺，沃森預(yù)測這種情況將會改變。

People haven't really started to address engineering challenges like upscaling to a large facility. We just think we're ahead of our time, he says.

“人們還沒有真正開始應(yīng)對工程方面的挑戰(zhàn)，比如向大型設(shè)施升級。我們只是走在了時代的前面。”他說。

Watson explains the study is a result of a collaboration among researchers working with different aspects of the technologies. Some of that work happens in the research lab of Yuanhui Zhang, professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Illinois. Zhang is Watson's advisor, and co-author of the paper.

沃森解釋說，這項研究是研究人員在不同技術(shù)領(lǐng)域合作的結(jié)果。其中一些工作是在伊利諾伊大學(xué)農(nóng)業(yè)與生物工程教授張元輝的研究實驗室進(jìn)行的。張是沃森的導(dǎo)師，也是這篇論文的合著者。

We work on producing oil from biomass such as food waste and algae through HTL. One of the byproducts of this process is the post-HTL wastewater (PHW), also called aqueous phase, Watson says. "We saw this big issue: what can we do with the wastewater? We have no way of managing it; we can't just dilute it; we can't just release it into the environment."

“我們致力于通過HTL從食物垃圾和藻類等生物質(zhì)中生產(chǎn)石油。這一過程的副產(chǎn)品之一是后htl廢水(PHW)，也稱為水相，”沃森說。“我們看到了一個大問題:我們該如何處理廢水?我們沒有辦法管理它;不能只是稀釋它;也不能只是把它釋放到環(huán)境中。”

The study provides a detailed analysis of currently available methodologies, and it describes six different approaches to treating PHW. Those include separation of chemicals, cultivation of biomass, anaerobic fermentation, bioelectrochemical systems, hydrothermal gasification, and recycling of PHW as a solvent or reactant for HTL.

該研究對目前可用的方法進(jìn)行了詳細(xì)的分析，并描述了六種不同的PHW治理方法。這些技術(shù)包括化學(xué)物質(zhì)的分離、生物質(zhì)的培養(yǎng)、厭氧發(fā)酵、生物電化學(xué)系統(tǒng)、水熱氣化以及循環(huán)利用PHW作為HTL的溶劑或反應(yīng)物。

Some of the potential applications created through these approaches include extraction of chemicals and gases, production of electricity or hydrogen, or purifying the liquid so it is clean enough to water crops or even use as drinking water, Watson says.

沃森說，通過這些方法產(chǎn)生的一些潛在應(yīng)用，包括提取化學(xué)物質(zhì)和氣體，生產(chǎn)電力或氫氣，或?qū)σ后w進(jìn)行凈化，使其足夠清潔，可以給農(nóng)作物澆水，甚至用作飲用水。

For each of the six methods, Watson and his collaborators describe the technology, discuss the benefits and challenges, and assess future potential, as well as feasibility of upscaling to commercial application.

對于這六種方法中的每一種，沃森和他的合作者詳細(xì)描述了技術(shù)細(xì)節(jié)，探討了益處和挑戰(zhàn)，并評估了未來的潛力，以及升級到商業(yè)應(yīng)用的可行性。