Co-production of phenolic oil and CaO/char deoxidation catalyst via catalytic fast pyrolysis of phenol-formaldehyde resin with Ca(OH)2

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Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin was widely used in industry, it would cause an adverse effect on the environment if without applicable treatments of resin wastes. Triglycrides (e.g., soybean oil) were abundant in the nature, but cannot be used directly as engine fuel. The deoxygenation of triglycrides was necessary for producing liquid fuel similar to that derived from petroleum. Herein, PF resin was used to co-produce phenolic-rich oil and CaO/char deoxygenation catalyst by catalytic fast pyrolysis with Ca(OH)2. The CaO/char was used as catalyst to catalytic deoxygenation of soybean oil via catalytic fast pyrolysis process. It was found that Ca(OH)2 changed the thermal decomposition behaviours of PF resin dramatically and promoted the cracking reactions to form more monophenol compounds. The optimal conditions for producing phenol-rich oil (containing 9.1% aromatic hydrocarbons and 82.8% phenols, GC–MS area fraction) with 37.3% yield were 650 °C and 5.0% Ca(OH)2 catalyst. Meanwhile, the total carbon yield of targeted phenols reached 33.7%. Solid residue (char) was further pyrolyzed at 800 °C for producing CaO/char catalyst that helped to reduce the bio-oil oxygen content from 14.4% to 2.4% in the pyrolysis of soybean oil. The peak area % of aromatic hydrocarbons in the oil was 86.8%, and indicated it could be used as gasoline. Phenolic oil from PF resin and aromatic hydrocarbons-rich oil from vegetable oil are easily produced by fast pyrolysis with calcium catalyst.