Characterization and analysis of condensates and non-condensable gases from furfural residue via fast pyrolysis in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor

Abstract

Pyrolysis of furfural residue (FR) was performed at 450–850 °C by employing a fluidized bed pyrolyzer (FBP). Addition of Kaolin and Ca-bentonite to FR considerably increased the condensate yields. The highest condensate yield (24.96 wt%) was obtained at 650 °C when Ca-bentonite was added. Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrum of pyrolysis oil (PO) indicated that catalysts promoted generation of alkene, amine, sulfate, sulfonyl chloride and oxime during pyrolysis. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) demonstrated that catalysts significantly increased the content of furfural and phenol in PO and the maximum phenol content (15.36%) was achieved in PO650-3 for CaO. The quite low relative proportion (RP) of ammonia nitrogen in liquid indicated that the dominant form of nitrogen in liquid was not ammonia nitrogen. CaO had the ability to reduce H2S release, indicating significant sulfur retention capacity. The maximum RP (99.29%) of chlorine in bio-char (BC) was observed with the addition of CaO, showing its strong chlorine retention capacity.