Back Cover: Catalytic Conversion of Furan to Hydrocarbons using HZSM‐5: Coking Behavior and Kinetic Modeling including Coke Deposition (Energy Technol. 1/2017)

Abstract

Coke formation in catalytic conversion of biomass: The cover image highlights the mechanism of coke formation and the coking process in the catalytic conversion of biomass. Carbon deposition in the catalyst pore includes “active coke” which promotes the catalysis and “inert coke” which inhibits the entrance of pyrolysis vapor. Carbon identification by in situ DRIFTS reveals that polymethyl benzaldehyde is the main component of active coke formed inside the catalyst pores, whereas inert coke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which usually deposit on the external surface due to space limitations. The relationship between coke and product distribution was well investigated in the Full paper from Rui Xiao and co-workers from Southeast University in Nanjing, China. For the catalytic conversion of furan as an important intermediate from biomass fast pyrolysis, a pathway was proposed involving benzofuran as a primary product, all the olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons as secondary products, and PAH as a tertiary product. The product selectivity only changed with catalytic temperature and coke deposition, and no effect was observed upon varying the weight hourly space velocity and partial pressure. The curve of conversion versus coke content follows an exponential trend, which indicates that furan catalytic conversion is a chemical process with fast deactivation. This study strengthens the understanding on the potential relationship between coke deposition and product distribution based on the above analysis and will benefit the design of processing parameters for the catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass to achieve a higher yield of hydrocarbons. More details can be found in the Full Paper by Zhi Yan and S. Shao et al. from Southwest University, Nanjing (DOI: 10.1002/ente.201600100).