Process to produce biofuels via organic phase thermal hydrocatalytic treatment of biomass

A method comprising:

• (a) providing a biomass feedstock containing cellulose and water;
• (b) contacting the biomass feedstock with an organic solvent having partial miscibility with water at 25° C. to form a digested biomass stream containing the organic solvent and water at an organic solvent to water mass ratio of greater than 1:1;
• (c) contacting the digested biomass stream with molecular hydrogen in the presence of a metal catalyst capable of activating molecular hydrogen, under organic phase hydrothermal conditions to form a hydrocatalytically treated mixture that contains a plurality of hydrocarbon molecules and oxygenated hydrocarbon molecules;
• (d) phase separating the hydrocatalytically treated mixture, by liquid-liquid separation, into an organic hydrocarbon-rich phase and a water phase comprising water soluble oxygenated hydrocarbons;
• (e) providing at least a portion of the organic hydrocarbon-rich phase to step (b) to form at least a portion of the organic solvent;
• and
• (f) processing at least a portion of the water phase, at least a portion of the organic hydrocarbon-rich phase, or at least a portion of both water phase and organic hydrocarbon-rich phase, to form a fuel blend comprising higher hydrocarbons.