The use of cellulosic biomass in a petroleum refinery needs to overcome the recalcitrant nature of this material and convert it into a liquid product, which is done by fast pyrolysis or liquefaction to produce bio-oils or by hydrolysis routes to produce aqueous sugars and solid lignin. Catalytic cracking of bio-oils, sugars and lignin produces olefins and aromatics from biomass-derived feedstocks. Unfortunately, large amounts of coke are obtained under cracking of these compounds over acid solid catalysts, and hence, the improvement of reaction conditions must be addressed in the future. Likewise, the obtained hydrocarbon mixture usually contains a relevant presence of oxygenated compounds that limit its use as a transport fuel.

Triglyceride-based biomass has more appealing properties for its processing in FCC units (lower oxygen content, higher effective hydrogen index, close physical properties to conventional FCC streams . . .). Although the results described in literature are very promising, most of them are in laboratory scale and little work has been addressed in pilot plant under realistic FCC conditions, and hence, we are still far from a commercial stage. Likewise, another issue in mind is the compatibility of these biomass-based streams in the refinery framework upstream FCC unit (storage, transfer lines, heat exchangers. . .). This topic has been poorly addressed in the literature, but it is a crucial key for the utilization of biomass — derived feedstocks in a petroleum refinery.

We honestly think that the co-processing of biomass feedstocks in petrol refineries is an interesting approach to reach the integrated biomass conversion process in bio-refineries. Furthermore, FCC unit and using oleaginous raw material as feedstocks are shown as the most appealing alternatives.