Investigation of solvent effect on the hydro-liquefaction of sawdust: An innovative reference approach using tetralin as chemical probe

• Tetralin is firstly utilized as chemical probe to investigate the solvent effects on the sawdust liquefaction.
• The higher solvent impact index is consistent with higher sawdust conversion and bio-oil yield.
• The temperature and solvent type have an influence on the solvent effect in the liquefaction process.
• The analysis results showed that product compositions highly depend on the employed solvents.

An innovative reference approach was developed to investigate the solvent effects on the liquefaction of sawdust by using tetralin as a chemical probe, and the corresponding solvent impact index was defined in this study. The influence of reaction conditions including reaction temperature and solvent types on solvent impact index were discussed. It was found that larger solvent impact index corresponds to improved sawdust conversion and higher bio-oil yield. The liquid and gaseous products obtained were characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), gas chromatography (GC), and elemental analysis (EA). The component of products highly depended on the employed solvents.