Paper details

Title:

Green Refinery Feed via Catalytic Flash Pyrolysis of Biomass

Author(s):

Imran, A., Brem, G., Bramer, E.A., Seshan, K.

Document(s):

Abstract:

Flash pyrolysis is a promising route for thermo­chemical conversion of wood, agricultural waste or biomass in general, yielding a bio­oil that can be a potential substitute for transportation fuels. However, the bio­oil obtained from conventional flash pyrolysis has low quality and needs expensive up­gradation before it can be used as a transportation fuel. Research on catalytic after­treatment of the bio­oil has not shown any promising results because of fast de­activation of the catalyst. In this work, a novel approach is introduced for the production of high quality bio­oil where flash pyrolysis and catalysis are employed in a single stage. A bench scale unit of 1kg/hr feedstock capacity is built up where flash pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading are integrated in an entrained down­flow reactor. Integrated catalytic flash pyrolysis of biomass offers the possibility to improve the quality and stability of the oil produced by in­situ de­oxygenation and cracking. The experiments performed showed that the unit operates without problems and with satisfactory mass balances in a wide range of experimental conditions both in the absence and presence of catalyst. Dedicated catalysts are being developed, optimised and tested to tailor the desired properties of bio­oil. Zeolites based catalysts are investigated to study the effect of catalysts on biomass pyrolysis. Experiments are conducted with varying acidities of Faujasite zeolites, using different zeolite structures and different catalyst to biomass ratios. For effective deoxygenation of bio­oil, high catalyst/biomass ratios are required. Less acidic zeolites are found to be more effective for deoxygenation of the bio­oil and there is significant improvement in bio­oil properties in terms of oxygen content and calorific value. Zeolites based acidic catalysts have shown that both the pyrolysis of biomass and the de­oxygenation of product vapours can be achieved in a single reactor and an improved quality bio­oil can be produced using catalysts in situ during the pyrolysis process. The high quality bio­oil obtained by catalytic pyrolysis of biomass may be used as a co­feedstock for conventional refineries and in this way the existing infrastructure can be utilized for the production of sustainable transportation fuels.

Keywords:

biomass, biofuels, catalytic pyrolysis, green refinery

Topic:

Biomass Conversion Technologies for Heating, Electricity and Chemicals                  

Subtopic:

Pyrolysis for power, CHP, polygeneration and chemicals

Event:

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

VP2.5.36

Pages:

1715 - 1720

ISBN-13:

978-88-89407-55-4

ISBN-10:

88-89407-55-7

Paper DOI:

10.5071/19thEUBCE2011-VP2.5.36

Price:

FREE