Evaluation of microbial triglyceride oil purification requirements for the CelTherm process: an efficient biochemical pathway to renewable fuels and chemicals

CelTherm is a biochemical process to produce renewable fuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. The present study’s objective was to determine the level of treatment/purity of the microbial triacylglyceride oil (TAG) necessary to facilitate fuel production. After a unique microbe aerobically synthesizes TAG from biomass-derived sugars, the microbes were harvested and dried then crude TAG was chemically extracted from the residual biomass. Some TAGs were further purified to hydrotreating process requirements. Both grades were then noncatalytically cracked into a petroleum-like intermediate characterized by gas chromatography. Experiments were repeated using refined soybean oil for comparison to previous studies. The products from crude microbial TAG cracking were then further refined into a jet fuel product. Fuel tests indicate that this jet fuel corresponds to specifications for JP-8 military turbine fuel. It was thus concluded that the crude microbial TAG is a suitable feedstock with no further purification required, demonstrating CelTherm’s commercial potential.