Thermochemical liquefaction of Indonesian biomass residues

Eighteen kinds of biomass residues in Indonesia were liquefied to heavy oil in hot-compressed water with sodium carbonate as the catalyst at 300 degrees C and around 10 MPa. The oil was obtained in the range of the yields between 21-36 wt% on an organic basis. Typically the oils had almost the same properties; carbon, around 70 wt%, hydrogen, 7 wt%, nitrogen, <1 wt%, calorific value, around 30 kJ/g, and viscosity, >10(5) mPa.s. The result of the simple energy balance estimation shows that this liquefaction process might become a net energy producer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.