Catalytic fast pyrolysis of softwood under N2 and H2 atmosphere

Abstract: Bio-oil generated from biomass is becoming one of the most promising alternatives as potential energy sources to replace fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Fast pyrolysis of biomass is one of the most economically feasible ways to produce bio-oil according to recent research on thermochemical conversion of biomass. Upgrading of oils derived from to hydrocarbon fuels requires oxygen removal and molecular weight reduction.  Catalytic cracking and hydrotreating are two efficient processes to upgrade bio-oil. Hydrotreating requires that hydrogen is added in the process to increase the H/C ratio of the product. Normally, catalytic fast pyrolysis and hydrotreating are two separated processes. In order to increase the energy efficiency of the process, exploring the fast pyrolysis of biomass with in-situ catalyst under the hydrogen atmosphere, i.e. catalytic hydropyrolysis shall be very interesting, and this is the objective of this work. In this work, biomass pyrolysis experiments using softwood have been performed in hydrogen and nitrogen atmospheres with/without catalyst. It was found that in the case of the H2 atmosphere, a higher yield on oil phase and a reduced water production is found. More oxygen was removed as CO and CO2. The catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) under H2 atmosphere also produce relatively more PAH (polymer aromatic hydrocarbon) and less MAH (monomer aromatic hydrocarbon) than under N2 atmosphere.