Biosyngas and Derived Products from Gasification and Aqueous Phase Reforming

The production of second-generation fuels from biomass is entering a new stage focused on large projects and industrial initiatives. However, the uncertain scenario in terms of climate change commitment and burden share, fossil fuel price, and renewable legislation limits does not provide the best environment for a large-scale spread of new technologies; furthermore, this innovation still requires a real breakthrough in order to lead to a clearly enhanced efficiency and sustainability. There are different approaches driving the conversion of biomass bulk or its fraction into fuel: (i) the fermentation process to bioethanol and biomethane, (ii) the production of oxygenated liquid compounds by several treatment (pyrolysis, liquefaction, triglyceride extraction, etc.) followed by hydrotreating (HDT) to upgrade the bio-oil produced, and (iii) gasification or aqueous phase reforming (APR), which produces syngas and hydrocarbons or alcohols. Gasification uses an oxidizing agent (air, steam, oxygen, or a combination of these) for the high-temperature transformation of a carbonaceous feedstock into a gaseous energy carrier consisting of permanent, non condensable gases, mainly syngas. Subsequently, in a separate stage, the syngas obtained is transformed by Fischer–Tropsch (FT) reaction into diesel or other syngas fuel such as methanol dimethyl ether (DME) or C2+ alcohols. The APR reaction is an alternative pathway to gasification for the transformation of biomass and its main components (sugars, polyols, and even proteins) into several products such as hydrogen, hydrocarbon, and oxygenated molecules, with the main products depending on the reaction conditions, process configuration, and catalysts.The APR treatment is applied to a hydrolyzed biomass in water solutions at 225–300 ∘C in subcritical conditions.