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Catalytic Pyrolysis of Raw and Thermally Treated Cellulose Using Different Acidic Zeolites

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Abstract

Fast pyrolysis of biomass using zeolite catalyst has shown to be effective in improving aromatic production. This study focuses on aromatic production through catalytic pyrolysis of major biomass constituent i.e., cellulose. Furthermore, cellulose was torrefied to understand torrefaction’s effect on pyrolysis products. The influence of SiO2/Al2O3 ratios of zeolite (ZSM-5) catalyst on aromatic production during pyrolysis of raw and torrefied cellulose was investigated. Results showed that the catalyst acidity played a pivotal role in eliminating anhydro sugars and other oxygenated compounds while producing more aromatics. The maximum aromatic yield (~25 wt%) was obtained when ZSM-5 with the highest acidity (SiO2/Al2O3 = 30) was used, while the lowest yield (7.99 wt%) was obtained when the least acidic catalyst was used (SiO2/Al2O3 = 280) for raw cellulose pyrolysis. Torrefaction process showed to have positive effect on the aromatic production from pyrolysis. There were no aromatics produced from pyrolysis of raw cellulose in the absence of catalyst, whereas significant amount of aromatic compounds were produced from both catalytic and noncatalytic pyrolyses of torrefied cellulose. The aromatic hydrocarbons produced from catalytic pyrolysis of torrefied cellulose were 5 % more than those produced from raw cellulose at the highest temperature and catalyst acidity (SiO2/Al2O3 = 30).

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Southeastern Sun Grant and National Science Foundation (NSF-CBET-1333372) for funding this study. However, only the authors are responsible for any remaining errors in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Vaishnavi Srinivasan, Sushil Adhikari & Shyamsundar Ayalur Chattanathan

  2. Forest Products Laboratory, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Maobing Tu

  3. Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Sunkyu Park

Authors
  1. Vaishnavi Srinivasan
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  2. Sushil Adhikari
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  3. Shyamsundar Ayalur Chattanathan
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  4. Maobing Tu
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Correspondence to Sushil Adhikari.

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Srinivasan, V., Adhikari, S., Chattanathan, S.A. et al. Catalytic Pyrolysis of Raw and Thermally Treated Cellulose Using Different Acidic Zeolites. Bioenerg. Res. 7, 867–875 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9426-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9426-8

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