Non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of Ulva prolifera macroalgae for production of quality bio-oil

Pyrolysis of Ulva prolifera macroalgae (UM), an aquatic biomass, was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor in the presence of three zeolites based catalysts (ZSM-5, Y-Zeolite and Mordenite) with the different catalyst to biomass ratio. A comparison between non-catalytic and catalytic behavior of ZSM-5, Y-Zeolite and Mordenite catalyst in the conversion of UM showed that is affected by properties of zeolites. Bio-oil yield was increased in the presence of Y-Zeolite while decreased with ZSM-5 and Mordenite catalyst. Maximum bio-oil yield for non-catalytic pyrolysis was (38.5 wt%) and with Y-Zeolite catalyst (41.3 wt%) was obtained at 400 °C respectively. All catalyst showed a higher gas yield. The higher gas yield might be attributed to that catalytic pyrolysis did the secondary cracking of pyrolytic volatiles and promoted the larger small molecules. The chemical components and functional groups present in the pyrolytic bio-oils are identified by GC–MS, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR and elemental analysis techniques. Phenol observed very less percentage in the case of non-catalytic pyrolysis bio-oil (9.9%), whereas catalytic pyrolysis bio-oil showed a higher percentage (16.1%). The higher amount of oxygen present in raw biomass reduced significantly when used catalyst due to the oxygen reacts with carbon and produce (CO and CO₂) and water.     

Catalytic conversion of particle board over microporous catalysts

Catalytic pyrolysis of particle board, a type of waste wood that is increasingly produced all over the world, was carried out over three types of zeolite catalysts: HBETA, HZSM-5, and Ga-impregnated HZSM-5 (Ga/HZSM-5). Experiments conducted using a batch reactor showed that the bio-oil yield and gas yield in catalytic pyrolysis were lower and higher than those in non-catalytic pyrolysis, respectively. Analysis of the bio-oil using pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) showed that the yields of high-value-added species such as aromatics and phenolics were increased to a large extent by catalytic upgrading, thus increasing the value of the product bio-oil. In particular, HZSM-5 exhibited high selectivity for aromatic compounds, and impregnation of Ga further increased the selectivity. HBETA could cause levoglucosans to decompose completely owing to its large pore size, resulting in increased yields of low-molecular-mass species.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of pinewood over ZSM-5 and CaO for aromatic hydrocarbon: Analytical Py-GC/MS study

A higher amount of oxygenates is the main constraint for higher yield and quality of aromatics in catalytic pyrolysis while a study of hydrocarbon production with a balance of reactive species lies importance in the catalytic upgrading of pyrolytic vapor. Catalytic pyrolysis of pinewood sawdust over acidic (ZSM-5) and basic (CaO) catalyst was conducted by means of Py-GC/MS to evaluate the effect of biomass to catalyst loading ratio on aromatic hydrocarbon production. Catalytic pyrolysis with four different biomass to catalyst ratios (0.25:1, 0.5:1, 1:1, and 2:1) and non-catalytic pyrolysis were conducted. It has been obtained that ZSM-5 showed better catalytic activity in terms of a high fraction of aromatic hydrocarbon. The ZSM-5 catalyst showed a potential on the aromatization as the yield of aromatic hydrocarbon was increased with a higher amount of ZSM-5 catalyst and the highest yield of aromatics (42.19 wt %) was observed for biomass to catalyst ratio of 0.25:1. On the other hand, basic CaO catalyst was not selective to aromatic hydrocarbon from pinewood sawdust but explored high deacidification reaction in pyrolytic vapor compared to ZSM-5 catalyst, whereas non-catalytic pyrolysis resulted in acidic species (13.45 wt %) and phenolics (46.5 wt %). Based on the results, ZSM-5 catalyst can only be suggested for catalytic pyrolysis of pinewood sawdust for aromatic hydrocarbon production.     

Tailoring Cu/Al2O3 catalysts for the catalytic pyrolysis of tomato waste

In this study, pyrolysis of tomato waste has been performed in fixed bed tubular reactor at 500 °C, both in absence and presence of Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The influences of heating rate, catalyst preparation method and catalyst loading on bio-oil yields and properties were examined. According to pyrolysis experiments, the highest bio-oil yield was obtained as 30.31% with a heating rate of 100 °C/min, 5% Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst loading ratio and co-precipitation method. Results showed that the catalysts have strong positive effect on bio-oil yields. Bio-oil quality obtained from fast catalytic pyrolysis was more favorable than that obtained from non-catalytic and slow catalytic pyrolysis.     

Potentiality of combined catalyst for high quality bio-oil production from catalytic pyrolysis of pinewood using an analytical Py-GC/MS and fixed bed reactor

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of combined catalyst (ZSM-5 and CaO) for high quality bio-oil production from the catalytic pyrolysis of pinewood sawdust that was performed in Py-GC/MS and fixed bed reactor at 500 °C. In Py-GC/MS, the maximum yield of aromatic hydrocarbon was 36 wt% at biomass to combined catalyst ratio of 1:4 where the mass ratio of ZSM-5 to CaO in the combined catalyst was 4:1. An increasing trend of phenolic compounds was observed with an increasing amount of CaO, whereas the highest yield of phenolic compounds (31 wt%) was recorded at biomass to combined catalyst ratio of 1:4 (ZSM-5: CaO - 4:1). Large molecule compounds could be found to crack into small molecules over CaO and then undergo further reactions over zeolites. The water content, higher heating value, and acidity of bio-oil from the fixed bed reactor were 21%, 24.27 MJkg⁻¹, and 4.1, respectively, which indicates that the quality of obtained bio-oil meets the liquid biofuel standard ASTM D7544-12 for grade G biofuel. This research will provide a significant reference to produce a high-quality bio-oil from the catalytic pyrolysis of woody biomass over the combined catalyst at different mass ratios of biomass to catalyst.     

Influence of metal (Fe/Zn) modified ZSM-5 catalysts on product characteristics based on the bench-scale pyrolysis and Py-GC/MS of biomass

In this study, sawdust was selected as the raw material for biomass pyrolysis to obtain organic products. The catalyst was modified with two elements (Fe and Zn). Through analysis of the catalytic products, we attempted to identify a pyrolysis catalyst that can improve the yield of aromatic hydrocarbon products. ZSM-5, modified with Fe and Zn, was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. Tube furnace and flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) were used to comprehensively investigate the characteristics of the products of biomass pyrolysis. The highest yield of phenols was obtained using the Fe-modified ZSM-5 catalyst, which was 18.30% higher than the yield obtained by the pure ZSM-5 catalyst. The lowest yield of acid products was obtained by single-metal-supported catalytic pyrolysis with Fe or Zn, which was 50.66% lower than the yield obtained by direct pyrolysis. During the pyrolysis of biomass using metal-modified catalysts, the production of aromatic hydrocarbons was greatly improved. Among them, compared with direct pyrolysis, the Fe-Zn co-modified ZSM-5 catalyst exhibited the weakest promotion of aromatic hydrocarbon formation, but there was still a 68.50% improvement. Although the co-modified catalyst did not show absolute advantages under the conditions used for this experiment, the improvements in the production of aromatics and phenolic products also showed its potential for improving bio-oil products. Under the action of Fe-modified catalysts, the most abundant components in the gas product were CO and CO₂, which reached levels as high as 53.45% and 15.34%, respectively, showing strong deoxidation capabilities. Therefore, Fe-modified ZSM-5 catalysts were found to better promote the formation of aromatic hydrocarbon products of biomass pyrolysis.     

Hydrothermal liquefaction of macroalgae: Influence of zeolites based catalyst on products

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Ulva prolifera macroalgae (UP) was carried out in the presence of three zeolites based catalysts (ZSM-5, Y-Zeolite and Mordenite) with the different weight percentage (10–20 wt%) at 260–300 °C for 15–45 min. A comparison between non-catalytic and catalytic behavior of ZSM-5, Y-Zeolite, and Mordenite in the conversion of Ulva prolifera showed that is affected by properties of zeolites. Maximum bio-oil yield for non-catalytic liquefaction was 16.6 wt% at 280 °C for 15 min. The bio-oil yield increased to 29.3 wt% with ZSM-5 catalyst (15.0 wt%) at 280 °C. The chemical components and functional groups present in the bio-oils are identified by GC-MS, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, and elemental analysis techniques. Higher heating value (HHV) of bio-oil (32.2–34.8 MJ/kg) obtained when catalyst was used compared to the non-catalytic reaction (21.2 MJ/kg). The higher de-oxygenation occurred in the case of ZSM-5 catalytic liquefaction reaction compared to the other catalyst such as Y-zeolite and mordenite. The maximum percentage of the aromatic proton was observed in bio-oil of ZSM-5 (29.7%) catalyzed reaction and minimum (1.4%) was observed in the non-catalyst reaction bio-oil. The use of zeolites catalyst during the liquefaction, the oxygen content in the bio-oil reduced to 17.7%. Aqueous phase analysis exposed that presence of valuables nutrients.     

Production of bio-fuels from cottonseed cake by catalytic pyrolysis under steam atmosphere

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the amounts of catalytic pyrolysis products of cottonseed cake in steam atmosphere and investigate the effects of both zeolite and steam on pyrolysis yields. The effect of steam was investigated by co-feeding steam at various velocities (0.6:1.3:2.7 cm s⁻¹) in the presence of zeolite (20 wt% of feed). Liquid pyrolysis products obtained at the most appropriate conditions were fractionated by column chromatography. Elemental analysis and FT-IR were applied on both of these liquid products and their sub-fractions. The H/C ratios obtained from elemental analysis were compared with the petroleum products. The aliphatic sub-fractions of the oils were then analysed by capillary column gas chromatography. Further structural analysis of pyrolysis oil was conducted using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. The characterization has shown that the bio-oil obtained from catalytic and steam pyrolysis of cottonseed cake was more beneficial than those obtained from non-catalytic and catalytic works under static and nitrogen atmospheres.     

基于镓改性ZSM-5分子筛作用下的环氧树脂催化热解制芳烃反应性能研究

为实现环氧树脂的清洁处置与资源化利用,在一系列金属镓改性的ZSM-5催化体系中进行快速热解实验,并进行了包括氮气吸附-脱附测试、X射线衍射（XRD）、氨气程序升温吸附（NH₃-TPD）、热重分析（TGA）和透射电镜（TEM）在内的全面的催化剂表征,以阐明催化剂的结构特性。镓的改性显著调节了ZSM-5分子筛的布朗斯特/路易斯酸分布和孔隙结构,改善了高温下分子筛的热解脱氧性能,提高了催化剂的择形催化能力。选取镓负载量、热解温度、催化剂用量、热解升温速率和催化剂回用次数为实验变量,探究了热解油组成分布的变化规律。结果表明,与未改性的分子筛相比,镓改性的ZSM-5分子筛显著提高了环氧树脂快速热解过程中芳烃的选择性。通过不同热解条件的研究发现,环氧树脂催化热解制备芳烃的最佳条件为：1Ga-ZSM-5分子筛∶环氧树脂 = 1∶1,热解温度为600℃,热解速率为10℃/ms,此时芳烃总选择性最高可达56.4%,其中更有价值的单环芳烃的相对含量达到31.6%。     

Evaluation of influence of two different catalysts on the pyrolysis of laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) extraction residues

Laurel extraction residues with zeolite and alumina catalysts were pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed reactor with a constant heating rate of 10°C min^–1. The final pyrolysis temperature and sweep gas flow rate were kept constant at 500°C and 100 ml min^–1 in all of the experiments, respectively. The influence of catalysts and their ratio (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% w/w) on the pyrolysis conversion and product yields were investigated in detail. The physicochemical properties of the catalytic bio-oil were determined and compared to those of non-catalytic bio-oil. The catalytic bio-oils were examined using some spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass: Effects of pyrolysis temperature,sweeping gas flow rate and MgO catalyst

Cotton seed, as a biomass source, is pyrolysed in a tubular fixed-bed reactor under various sweeping gas (N₂) flow rates at different pyrolysis temperatures. In the non-catalytic work, the maximum bio-oil yield was attained as 48.30% at 550 °C with a sweeping gas flow rate of 200 mL min⁻¹. At the optimum conditions, catalytic pyrolysis of biomass samples was performed with various amounts of MgO catalyst (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt.% of raw material). Catalyst addition decreased the quantity of bio-oil yet increased the quality of bio-oil in terms of calorific value, hydrocarbon distribution and removal of oxygenated groups. It was observed that increasing the amount of catalyst used, decreased the oil yields while increased the gas and char yields. Bio-oils obtained at the optimum conditions were separated into aliphatic, aromatic and polar sub-fractions. After the application of column chromatography, bio-oils were subjected into elemental, FT-IR and ¹H NMR analyses. Aliphatic sub-fractions of bio-oils were analyzed by GC–MS. It was deduced that the fuel obtained via catalytic pyrolysis mainly consisted of lower weight hydrocarbons in the diesel range. Finally, obtained results were compared with petroleum fractions and evaluated as a potential source for liquid fuels.     

Upgrading of fast pyrolysis bio-oil to drop-in fuel over Ru catalysts

Catalyst plays a key role in the upgrading of fast pyrolysis bio-oil to advanced drop-in fuel, while the selectivity and deactivation of catalyst still remain the biggest challenge. In this study, three Ru catalysts with activated carbon, Al₂O₃ and ZSM-5 as supports were prepared and tested in bio-oil hydrotreating process. The physical properties and components of upgraded bio-oil were detected to identify the difference in catalytic performance of three catalysts. The results showed that furan, phenols and their derivatives in fast pyrolysis bio-oil could be hydrogenated to alkanes, alkenes and benzenes over Ru catalysts. The different components of oil phase over three catalysts may be resulted from the surface properties of three supports. Activated carbon supported Ru catalyst showed the best catalytic performance and was suggested to be the most promising catalyst for pyrolysis bio-oil upgrading.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of microalgae to high-quality liquid bio-fuels

The pyrolytic conversion of chlorella algae to liquid fuel precursor in presence of a catalyst (Na₂CO₃) has been studied. Thermal decomposition studies of the algae samples were performed using TGA coupled with MS. Liquid oil samples were collected from pyrolysis experiments in a fixed-bed reactor and characterized for water content and heating value. The oil composition was analyzed by GC-MS. Pretreatment of chlorella with Na₂CO₃ influences the primary conversion of chlorella by shifting the decomposition temperature to a lower value. In the presence of Na₂CO₃, gas yield increased and liquid yield decreased when compared with non-catalytic pyrolysis at the same temperatures. However, pyrolysis oil from catalytic runs carries higher heating value and lower acidity. Lower content of acids in the bio-oil, higher aromatics, combined with higher heating value show promise for production of high-quality bio-oil from algae via catalytic pyrolysis, resulting in energy recovery in bio-oil of 40%.     

Microwave-assisted catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose for phenol-rich bio-oil production

The microwave-assisted catalytic pyrolysis (MACP) of cellulose was carried out using modified HZSM-5 catalysts for bio-oil production. The catalysts of Fe/HZSM-5, Ni/HZSM-5 and Fe–Ni/HZSM-5 were developed and characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The bio-oil was characterized by the Fourier transform infrared analyzer (FTIR) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Results showed that Fe/HZSM-5 enhanced the yields of bio-oil by 11.4% and decreased the coke by about 24% compared to HZSM-5 without modification. The saccharides in bio-oil disappeared and were totally converted into phenols and low molecular compounds with the catalysis of Fe–Ni/HZSM-5. Fe–Ni/HZSM-5 showed high selectivity of phenols (20.86%) in the bio-oil. It was a unique finding because usually phenols can only be obtained by the pyrolysis of lignin, not cellulose. The formation of phenols from MACP of cellulose was probably caused by the conversion of furans to aromatics in the pores of HZSM-5, and followed by further conversion of aromatics into phenols on the external surface of HZSM-5.     

Preparation of bio-oil derived from catalytic upgrading of biomass vacuum pyrolysis vapor over metal-loaded HZSM-5 zeolites

The Fe-, Co-, Cu-loaded HZSM-5 zeolites were prepared via impregnation method. The upgrading by catalyst on biomass pyrolysis vapors was conducted over modified zeolites to investigate their catalytic upgrading performance and anti-coking performance. The Brønsted acid sites amount on Cu-,Co-loaded HZSM-5 decreased sharply, while that of Lewis both increased. The yield of liquid fraction and refined bio-oil over metal loaded ZSM-5 catalysts decreased, while that of char almost kept constant. The physical property of refined bio-oil was promoted in terms of pH value, dynamic viscosity and higher heating value (HHV). FT-IR analysis revealed that the chemical structure of refined bio-oil obtained over Fe-, Co-, Cu-loaded HZSM-5 zeolites was highly similar. The yield of monocyclic aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon over Fe-,Co-loaded HZSM-5 were boosted by around 2.5 times compared with original ZSM-5 zeolites. Data analysis revealed that Cu/HZSM-5 presented the worst deoxygenation ability. The anti-coking capability of Fe/HZSM-5 was obviously better, i.e., the coke content showed an approximate decrease of 38%. Thus, this study provided an efficient Fe/HZSM-5 catalysts for preparation of bio-oil derived from catalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapor.     

A comparative study on the quality of bioproducts derived from catalytic pyrolysis of green microalgae Spirulina (Arthrospira) plantensis over transition metals supported on HMS-ZSM5 composite

This study investigated three different types of catalysts: Ni/HMS-ZSM5, Fe/HMS-ZSM5, and Ce/HMS-ZSM5 in the thermochemical decomposition of green microalgae Spirulina (Arthrospira) plantensis. First, non-catalytic pyrolysis tests were conducted in a temperature ranges of 400–700 °C in a dual-bed pyrolysis reactor. The optimum temperature for maximized liquid yield was determined as 500 °C. Then, the influence of acid washing on bio-products upgrading was studied at the optimum temperature. Compared to the product yields from the pyrolysis of raw spirulina, a higher bio-oil yield (from 34.488 to 37.778 %wt.) and a lower bio-char yield (from 37 to 35 %wt.) were observed for pretreated spirulina, indicating that pretreatment promoted the formation of bio-oil, while it inhibited the formation of biochar from biomass pyrolysis. Finally, catalytic pyrolysis experiments of pretreated-spirulina resulted that Fe as an active phase in catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity, toward producing hydrocarbons and the highest hydrogen yield (3.81 mmol/gr spirulina).     

Selective catalytic fast pyrolysis of Jatropha curcas residue with metal oxide impregnated activated carbon for upgrading bio-oil

Jatropha curcas waste was subjected to catalytic pyrolysis at 873 K using an analytical pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in order to investigate the relative effect of various metal oxide/activated carbon (M/AC) catalysts on upgrading bio-oil from fast pyrolysis vapors of Jatropha waste residue. A commercial AC support was impregnated with Ce, Pd, Ru or Ni salts and calcined at 523 K to yield the 5 wt.% M/AC catalysts, which were then evaluated for their catalytic deoxygenation ability and selectivity towards desirable compounds. Without a catalyst, the main vapor products were fatty acids of 60.74% (area of GC/MS chromatogram), while aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds were presented at only 11.32%. Catalytic pyrolysis with the AC and the M/AC catalysts reduced the oxygen-containing (including carboxylic acids) products in the pyrolytic vapors from 73.68% (no catalyst) to 1.60–36.25%, with Ce/AC being the most effective catalyst. Increasing the Jatropha waste residue to catalyst (J/C) ratio to 1:10 increased the aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon yields in the order of Ce/AC > AC > Pd/AC > Ni/AC, with the highest total hydrocarbon proportion obtained being 86.57%. Thus, these catalysts were effective for deoxygenation of the pyrolysis vapors to form hydrocarbons, with Ce/AC, which promotes aromatics, Pd/AC and Ni/AC as promising catalysts. In addition, only a low yield (0.62–7.80%) of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was obtained in the catalytic fast pyrolysis (highest with AC), which is one advantage of applying these catalysts to the pyrolysis process. The overall performance of these catalysts was acceptable and they can be considered for upgrading bio-oil.     

Py-GC/MS技术用于Chaetoceros sp. 硅藻的催化热解研究

采用热裂解−气质联用（Py-GC/MS）技术研究Chaetoceros sp. 硅藻粉末的催化热解特性。以HZSM-5为催化剂,考察了不同Si/Al比的HZSM-5催化剂对硅藻热解产物的影响,并考察了催化剂的使用量、热解升温速率、热解反应时间对产物的影响。结果表明：未加催化剂时,硅藻热解产物以脂肪酸为主,含量为50.05%,苯系物含量仅为0.87%;加入HZSM-5催化剂后,硅藻热解产物中脂肪酸含量减少,芳香类化合物显著增加。热解实验结果发现,Si/Al比为38、硅藻和HZSM-5比例为1∶9、热解速率10 000℃/s、热解时间为10 s时,能得到较理想的热解产品,其中苯系物产率可达57.76%,脂肪酸含量为2.63%。这说明HZSM-5（38）具有较好的脱氧和芳构化功能,有利于硅藻催化热解生成高品质的生物油产品。     

Multi-response optimization of bio-oil production from catalytic solar pyrolysis of Spirulina platensis

In this work, the solar catalytic pyrolysis of Spirulina platensis microalgae using hydrotalcite as a catalyst was studied to improve the yield and quality of the bio-oil obtained from the algae. The effects of biomass loading, reaction time, and catalyst percentage on the product distribution and bio-oil composition were evaluated. The desirability function was used to identify the pyrolysis conditions that maximize the bio-oil yield and its hydrocarbon content. The experimental results indicated that the catalytic pyrolysis of Spirulina platensis produced considerable solid product content, and high liquid yields were reached in some tests favored by the catalyst presence. The hydrotalcite contributed to increasing the hydrocarbon formation in the bio-oil at lower reaction times, demonstrating the great performance of this catalyst for microalgae pyrolysis. At the optimal conditions, a bio-oil yield of 35.94% with 21.71% hydrocarbon content was achieved.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass over Fe-modified hierarchical ZSM-5: Insights into mono-aromatics selectivity and pyrolysis behavior using Py-GC/MS and TG-FTIR

Catalytic pyrolysis has recently aroused great interest for the high potential in upgrading bio-oils as renewable energy. However, conventional catalysts often exert diffusion resistance to large intermediate oxygenates. In this study, Fe-modified hierarchical ZSM-5 prepared by alkali and Fe loading of 2, 4, 6, 8 wt% were characterized by the analysis of XRD, BET, TEM, and NH₃-TPD. Catalytic pyrolysis of poplar sawdust via Fe-modified hierarchical ZSM-5 was conducted using Py-GC/MS and TG-FTIR. The results indicated that alkali treatment and Fe loading of the catalyst introduced a hierarchical and porous structure and improved its acidity, leading to high mono-aromatics and olefins selectivity. The hierarchical ZSM-5 with 4 wt% Fe loading exhibited superior performance with high selectivity towards mono-aromatics of 15.30%. TG-FTIR analysis shows the volatiles release characteristics and FTIR spectra were consistent with pyrolysis behavior. Kinetic analysis reveals Fe-modified hierarchical ZSM-5 lowers the apparent activation energy in catalytic pyrolysis of poplar sawdust.