Catalytic pyrolysis of the oily seeds of Styrax officinalis L. for bio‐fuels and valuable industrial chemicals

Abstract

AbstractThe catalytic pyrolysis of the oily seeds of Styrax officinalis L., which was carried out using two catalysts in a fixed‐bed reactor. As a catalyst, expanded perlite was firstly used according to the best current knowledge. Pyrolysis experiments were performed under at 450°C temperature and 25°C/min heating rate. The results showed that both catalyst materials had approximately the same effect on the bio‐oil yields. By using the natural zeolite and expanded perlite at a ratio of 30 wt %, the maximum bio‐oil yields were achieved as 38.07 wt % and 37.49 wt %, respectively. The oxygen content is important to bio‐oil and upgrading oil. High oxygen content causes poor heating value and instability. The use of a catalyst greatly reduced the oxygen content of the bio‐oil, such that the 30 wt % of oxygen content for noncatalytic oil decreased to 16.34 wt % and 18.35 wt % with use of natural zeolite and expanded perlite, respectively. Higher heating values (34.84 and 33.48 MJ/kg) and H/C atomic ratios (1.47 and 1.51) for the catalyzed bio‐oils were very close to those of petroleum, which are 40 MJ/kg and 1.5:1.9, respectively. In addition, the oxygenated species decreased and also the quantities of alkyl and alkenyl substituted aromatic compounds and paraffinic alkanes in the catalyzed bio‐oils were notably higher than those of noncatalyzed bio‐oils when using a catalyst. The use of catalysts in the pyrolysis not only increased the yield of bio‐oil, but also produced higher quality oil with higher calorific value, lower oxygen content, higher carbon, and hydrogen contents etc. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2011