Production of Renewable Petrochemicals from Catalytic Co-Pyrolysis of Beech Wood and Low-Density Polyethylene with Mesoporous Bifunctional ZSM-5 Zeolites

Abstract

This study investigated catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of beech wood, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and their mixture (mass ratio of 1) with a conventional microporous ZSM-5 and mesoporous bifunctional Zn/ZSM-5meso zeolite prepared by desilication of the conventional ZSM-5 with NaOH solution and then impregnation with Zn.The generation of mesopores by desilication improved the diffusion property of the zeolite, which decreased the formation of undesired polyaromatic hydrocarbons from secondary polymerization reactions of monoaromatics in CFP. In addition, the impregnation of Zn increased the dehydrogenation activity of the zeolites, and thus enhanced the conversion of low-value alkanes to valuable olefins. As a result, Zn/ZSM-5meso produced higher yields (56.0 C%) of valuable petrochemicals (monoaromatic hydrocarbons and olefins) and lower yields of undesired polyaromatics (1.70 C%) and alkanes (10.2 C%) in co-feed CFP of the beech wood and LDPE mixture than ZSM-5 (48.2 C%, 4.18 C%, and 18.7 C% for petrochemicals, polyaromatics, and alkanes, respectively).ZSM-5 desilication and impregnation with Zn thus have a beneficial effect on improve the product distribution in CFP of biomass and plastic mixtures. In addition, the results suggest that CFP may provide a promising technology for producing renewable petrochemicals from municipal and agricultural solid wastes, which usually contain high contents of biomass and waste plastics.