Premium
Scaling‐Up of Bio‐Oil Upgrading during Biomass Pyrolysis over ZrO 2 /ZSM‐5‐Attapulgite
Author(s) -
Hernando Héctor,
HernándezGiménez Ana M.,
GutiérrezRubio Santiago,
Fakin Tomaz,
Horvat Andrej,
Danisi Rosa M.,
Pizarro Patricia,
Fermoso Javier,
Heracleous Eleni,
Bruijnincx Pieter C. A.,
Lappas Angelos A.,
Weckhuysen Bert M.,
Serrano David P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201900534
Subject(s) - deoxygenation , catalysis , pyrolysis , zsm 5 , biomass (ecology) , zeolite , chemical engineering , raw material , materials science , hydrodesulfurization , chemistry , organic chemistry , oceanography , engineering , geology
Ex situ catalytic biomass pyrolysis was investigated at both laboratory and bench scale by using a zeolite ZSM‐5‐based catalyst for selectively upgrading the bio‐oil vapors. The catalyst consisted of nanocrystalline ZSM‐5, modified by incorporation of ZrO 2 and agglomerated with attapulgite (ZrO 2 /n‐ZSM‐5‐ATP). Characterization of this material by means of different techniques, including CO 2 and NH 3 temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD), NMR spectroscopy, UV/Vis microspectroscopy, and fluorescence microscopy, showed that it possessed the right combination of accessibility and acid–base properties for promoting the conversion of the bulky molecules formed by lignocellulose pyrolysis and their subsequent deoxygenation to upgraded liquid organic fractions (bio‐oil). The results obtained at the laboratory scale by varying the catalyst‐to‐biomass ratio (C/B) indicated that the ZrO 2 /n‐ZSM‐5‐ATP catalyst was more efficient for bio‐oil deoxygenation than the parent zeolite n‐ZSM‐5, producing upgraded bio‐oils with better combinations of mass and energy yields with respect to the oxygen content. The excellent performance of the ZrO 2 /n‐ZSM‐5‐ATP system was confirmed by working with a continuous bench‐scale plant. The scale‐up of the process, even with different raw biomasses as the feedstock, reaction conditions, and operation modes, was in line with the laboratory‐scale results, leading to deoxygenation degrees of approximately 60 % with energy yields of approximately 70 % with respect to those of the thermal bio‐oil.