Pyrolysis oil are affected by temperature, reaction time, algae species, algae concentration, reaction atmosphere, and catalysts, in subcritical water reaction conditions. Bio-oil typically requires significant additional treatment to render it suitable as a refinery feedstock to replace crude oil derived from petroleum, coal-oil, or coal-tar. Tar is a black mixture of hydrocarbons and free carbon obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. Wood-tar creosote is a colourless to yellowish greasy liquid with a smoky odor, produces a sooty flame when burned, and has a burned taste. It is
Wood preservation resistance of wood species is always based on the heartwood (or "truewood"). The sapwood of all timber species should be considered to be non-durable without preservative treatment. Tung oil has been used for hundreds of years in China, where it was used as a preservative for wood ships. The oil penetrates the wood, and then hardens to form an impermeable hydrophobic layer up to 5 mm into the wood. As a preservative it is effective for exterior work above and below ground, but the thin layer makes it less useful in practice. It is not available as a pressure treatment.