Comparative Production of Bio-Oil from In Situ Catalytic Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Ali Abdulkhani, Zahra Echresh Zadeh, Solomon Gajere Bawa, Fubao Sun, Meysam Madadi, Xueming Zhang and Basudeb Saha ()
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Ali Abdulkhani: Department of Wood and Paper Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj 1417466191, Iran
Zahra Echresh Zadeh: Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK
Solomon Gajere Bawa: Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK
Fubao Sun: Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Meysam Madadi: Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Xueming Zhang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, College of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Basudeb Saha: School of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Catalytic upgrading of fast pyrolysis bio-oil from two different types of lignocellulosic biomass was conducted using an H-ZSM-5 catalyst at different temperatures. A fixed-bed pyrolysis reactor has been used to perform in situ catalytic pyrolysis experiments at temperatures of 673, 773, and 873 K, where the catalyst (H-ZSM-5) has been mixed with wood chips or lignin, and the pyrolysis and upgrading processes have been performed simultaneously. The fractionation method has been employed to determine the chemical composition of bio-oil samples after catalytic pyrolysis experiments by gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy (GCMS). Other characterization techniques, e.g., water content, viscosity, elemental analysis, pH, and bomb calorimetry have been used, and the obtained results have been compared with the non-catalytic pyrolysis method. The highest bio-oil yield has been reported for bio-oil obtained from softwood at 873 K for both non-catalytic and catalytic bio-oil samples. The results indicate that the main effect of H-ZSM-5 has been observed on the amount of water and oxygen for all bio-oil samples at three different temperatures, where a significant reduction has been achieved compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples. In addition, a significant viscosity reduction has been reported compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples, and less viscous bio-oil samples have been produced by catalytic pyrolysis. Furthermore, the obtained results show that the heating values have been increased for upgraded bio-oil samples compared to non-catalytic bio-oil samples. The GCMS analysis of the catalytic bio-oil samples (H-ZSM-5) indicates that toluene and methanol have shown very similar behavior in extracting bio-oil samples in contrast to non-catalytic experiments. However, methanol performed better for extracting chemicals at a higher temperature.

Keywords: biomass; bio-oil; upgrading; catalytic pyrolysis; lignin; fractionation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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