Ly HV  Kim JS  Kim SS  Woo HC  Choi SS

Vol. 26,  No. 1, pp. 79-87, Mar.  2020
10.7464/ksct.2020.26.1.79

Catalytic fast pyrolysis Fluidized-bed reactor tulip tree Upgrading bio-oil

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The bio-oil produced from the fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass contains a high amount of oxygenates, causing variation in the properties of bio-oil, such as instability, high acidity, and low heating value, reducing the quality of the bio-oil. Consequently, an upgrading process should be recommended ensuring that these bio-oils are widely used as fuel sources. Catalytic fast pyrolysis has attracted a great deal of attention as a promising method for producing upgraded bio-oil from biomass feedstock. In this study, the fast pyrolysis of tulip tree was performed in a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor under different reaction temperatures, with and without catalysts, to investigate the effects of pyrolysis temperature and catalysts on product yield and bio-oil quality. The system used silica sand, ferric oxides (Fe2O3 and Fe3O4), and H-ZSM-5 as the fluidized-bed material and nitrogen as the fluidizing medium. The liquid yield reached the highest value of 49.96 wt% at 450 ℃, using Fe2O3 catalyst, compared to 48.45 wt% for H-ZSM-5, 47.57 wt% for Fe3O4 and 49.03 wt% with sand. Catalysts rejected oxygen mostly as water and produced a lower amount of CO and CO2, but a higher amount of H2 and hydrocarbon gases. The catalytic fast pyrolysis showed a high ratio of H2/CO than sand as a bed material.