The compatibility of fueling infrastructure elastomers in bio-oil and diesel fuel was determined by measuring the volume swell and hardness before and after drying.  The bio-oil was produced via fast pyrolysis from a blend of pine feedstocks.  The elastomer materials included two fluorocarbons, six acrylonitirile butadiene rubbers (NBRs), fluorosilicone, styrene butadiene rubber, neoprene, polyurethane, neoprene, silicone, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR), a blend of NBR and PVC (OZO), and a blend of  epichlorohydrin and ethylene oxide (ECO).  The majority of the elastomer materials (except for EPDM, SBR and silicone) exhibited higher volume expansion in bio-oil than in diesel.  Excessive swelling was noted for the polyurethane, neoprene and three of the NBRs.  In general, the higher polarity of these elastomers more closely aligned with the polarities of the bio-oil versus the diesel fuel.  Conversely, EPDM, SBR, and silicone are relatively nonpolar and this matches the low polarity of the diesel fuel, which resulted in higher volume expansion in diesel, rather than the bio-oil for these four polymers. 

Hot dilute acidic pre-hydrolysis biorefining is a pre-treatment technology recently developed for converting raw biomass materials into sugar streams and other valuable intermediate chemicals at elevated temperatures. However, corrosion database of steels and alloys in hot dilute acidic solutions are very limited, resulting in the cost-effective selection of materials of construction difficult. Corrosion studies were thus performed to identify suitable alloys of construction and advance the understanding of how alloying elements (e.g., Cr and Mo) present in steels and alloys affect the formation and properties of surface oxides. In this paper, the corrosion performance of three alloys (UNS S31603, UNS S32101 and UNS N06625) in hot dilute sulfuric acids are introduced. The alloys exhibited active general corrosion and even pitting in the hot acidic solutions. Alloy 625 has better resistance to the hot dilute acid compared to SS 316L and duplex 2101. This may be attributed to the higher contents of Mo in the alloy. Long-term tests indicate that their corrosion rates are gradually increased with time. The introduction of 100 ppm Cl- from raw biomass feedstocks into the acid solution only has marginal effect on corrosion. 

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet and waste biomass feedstocks into crude bio-oils and other chemicals has attracted particular attention in Canadian and international clean energy sectors. Until today, very little effort has been employed to address corrosion problems of HTL core components under operation, leading to a significant delay in the construction of industrial-scale HTL plants. In fact, a range of oxygenated, aggressive sulfur and/or chlorinated compounds, as well as organic acids, can be introduced during the conversion at the operating temperature range of 200–400℃, consequently creating highly corrosive environments to the reactor alloys. It is thus important to investigate the performance of alloys exposed to conversion processes to determine the cost-effective construction and long-term safe operation of the HTL plants. In this study, the corrosion resistance of two candidate austenitic stainless steels, including UNS S31000 and UNS S31603, was assessed in a batch reactor containing bamboo feedstock. The corrosion behaviors of the austenitic stainless steels were evaluated using weight change measurement methods and advanced microscopy techniques. To advance corrosion mechanistic understanding, the chemistry of conversion products was also analyzed. This paper is a summary of our most recent results obtained.