Catalytic pyrolysis over transition metal-modified zeolites: a comparative study between catalyst activity and deactivation

• The utilization of metal-doped zeolites in catalytic pyrolysis of biomass is a well-known approach to promote the formation of certain compounds. One major technical issue of using zeolites in biomass pyrolysis processes is their rapid deactivation due to coke formation. However, little is known about how metal-doping influences the characteristics of coking, such as coking rate and its composition.In this study, four different materials were experimentally evaluated based on their catalytic activity and coking characteristics: HZSM-5, Fe/ZSM-5, Ni/ZSM-5 and FeNi/ZSM-5. The materials were prepared and characterized followed by screening in a bench-scale setup for in-situ catalytic pyrolysis. The mass balance and composition of pyrolysis products including catalyst coke were analyzed.It was found that metal-doping increases the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons in the liquid product from 59.0 to 82.8 % of GC/MS peak area, especially monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) and naphthalenes. Fe mainly promotes MAHs whereas Ni additionally promotes naphthalenes. FeNi/ZSM-5 enhances the production of both compound groups as well as further reducing the total acid number (TAN). Regarding the catalyst coke, metal-doped catalysts present an increased concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons in terms of MAHs, naphthalenes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. For each catalyst, the chemical composition of catalyst coke reflects the catalyst’s activity seen in vapor upgrading. A reaction pathway based on the observed catalyst activities of metal-doped ZSM-5 and HZSM-5 is proposed.The results also show that metal-doping of catalysts increases the formation of catalyst coke, mainly due to a higher concentration of strong acid sites. Also, the rate of coking is dependent on the strength of acid sites, where the strength correlates with the severity of coking. The coke yield was seen to increase from 3.5 wt% in the case of HZSM-5 to maximum 7.2 wt% over Fe/ZSM-5. However, the metal-doping of catalysts reduces the temperature of catalyst regeneration and catalyzes the oxidation of coke. Overall, this work presents a comparative study between catalyst activity and deactivation during thermochemical conversion of biomass.

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Chemical Engineering

Kemiteknik

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