Removal of Tar during Pine Sawdust Fast Pyrolysis with Catalysts

Abstract

At 600°C, fast pyrolysis of pine sawdust with and without catalysts were investigated in a fixed-bed reactor to determine the effects of five catalysts on the removing tar and changing components of tar. Based on difference of the physical properties and chemical catalytic, five catalysts, including sand, porous silica, activated alumina, fused alumina and zeolite were chosen. The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyze tar compositions. The results showed that the conversion rates of tar: zeolite>activated alumina>fused alumina>porous silica>sand. The physical properties and the chemical catalytic activities of the catalysts were the two main reasons, in which the physical properties of catalysts mainly influenced the contents of aldehydes, hydrocarbons and phenols, while chemical catalytic activities of catalysts mainly influenced the contents of acids, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons and phenols.