Abstract
This study investigates the efficacy of a prepared Ni/θ-Al2O3 catalyst during the pyrolytic conversion of Parachlorella kessleri HY-6 and compares the results with non-catalytic conversion. The catalyst was characterized by techniques such as Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) for surface area, acidity, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Isoconversional and combined kinetic methods were used to study the pyrolytic kinetics of the process. Ni/θ-Al2O3 was used at 10, 20, and 30% of the algal biomass. The addition of Ni/θ-Al2O3 facilitated the conversion by lowering the mean activation energy during pyrolysis. The catalytic effect was more pronounced at lower and higher conversions. The presence of the catalyst facilitated the pyrolysis as indicated by the lower value of activation energy and ∆H, and ∆G. Gases evolved during pyrolysis were qualitatively analyzed by FTIR to see the effect of catalyst on evolved gas composition during the pyrolysis process.
Highlights
The search for an appropriate alternative energy solution to fossil fuel is still in the research and development stage (Xu et al, 2020)
This study reports the application of Ni/θ-Al2O3 catalyst during the pyrolysis of Parachlorella kessleri HY-6
Kinetic analysis shows the efficacy of Ni/θ-Al2O3 in lowering the mean activation energy of Parachlorella kessleri HY-6 during pyrolysis
Summary
The search for an appropriate alternative energy solution to fossil fuel is still in the research and development stage (Xu et al, 2020). The bio-oil obtained from slow and fast pyrolysis has a noticeable amount of oxygen which can adversely affect the stability and quantity of the product (Azizi et al, 2018) The solution to this problem is the use of catalysts. Bio-oil yield and its quality depend on the type of catalyst and temperature used during catalytic pyrolysis (Guo et al, 2012). Among these catalysts, Ni-based catalysts perform better during the pyrolysis due to their activity for decarboxylation or decarbonylation reactions during the hydride oxygenation process (Sekar et al, 2021). Many studies are available on the catalytic degradation of microalgae via pyrolysis processes to optimize biofuel production (Zhao et al, 2021). The gases that evolved during the process were analyzed to assess the impact of the catalyst on the pyrolysis process
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