Comprehensive study on thermochemical putrefaction of Delonix Regia in non-catalytic, catalytic and hydro-catalytic pyrolysis atmospheres

Harshal D. Kawale and Nanda Kishore

Renewable Energy, 2021, vol. 173, issue C, 223-236

Abstract: The need for cleaner energy and faster depleting conventional non-renewable energy resources gave rise to the quest for sustainable sources and their conversion technologies for renewable energy production. The H/C ratio is essential in estimating the fuel potential of any feedstock. In this study, authors have considered a biomass, Delonix Regia (DR), whose H/C ratio is 1.56 which is higher than other competitive biomass such as pinewood sawdust (1.43) and of coal (1–1.4). Thus, selection of DR based on its H/C value formulated the objective of this work as non-catalytic, catalytic and hydro-catalytic pyrolysis of DR at 600 °C in a tubular reactor. Further, the use of zeolite Y, sodium catalyst for the cases of catalytic and hydro-catalytic experiments added novelty to this work because this catalyst is extensively used as cracking catalyst for fractionating the high-boiling petroleum crude into lighter and useful fractions such as gasoline. Accordingly it is expected that this catalyst shall play similar role in the present study for fractionating the high volatile pyrolysis vapours into smaller fractions during the pyrolysis reaction. Thus, the novelty of this work is catalytic and hydro-pyrolysis of a rarely researched biomass using an economical zeolite Y, sodium catalyst. The HHV of bio-oils by non-catalytic, catalytic and hydro-pyrolysis of DR found to be 16.5 MJ/kg, 18.14 MJ/kg and 20.65 MJ/kg, respectively. GC-MS analyses indicated the formation of several value-added chemicals such as benzene, cresol, catechol etc. by hydro-pyrolysis. The fraction of furan in bio-oil by hydro-catalytic pyrolysis decreased substantially whereas the aromatics fraction increased compared to the other two cases.

Keywords: Delonix regia biomass; Catalytic pyrolysis; Hydro-pyrolysis; Bio-oil; Zeolite Y; Sodium; Renewable and sustainable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:173:y:2021:i:c:p:223-236

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.139

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