Catalytic pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse and pinewood in a pilot scale unit

- Sugarcane bagasse and wood were processed in catalytic pyrolysis pilot-scale unit.
- A commercial ZSM-5 catalyst and silica (as a reference material) were used.
- Chemical characterization of the liquid products was performed by GC × GC-TOFMS.
- ZSM-5 decreased% O in bio-oil to a higher degree than did thermal pyrolysis.
- High amounts of toluene and C2-benzene isomers were produced with ZSM-5.

Recently, many studies have been published on the catalytic pyrolysis of biomass, to improve the quality of the liquid product from fast pyrolysis, especially with ZSM-5 catalysts. However, only a few studies in the literature were not limited to the use of woody biomass as feed.This paper describes a catalytic pyrolysis study with two different biomass types (sugarcane bagasse and pinewood) using a commercial ZSM-5 catalyst and silica as a reference in a pilot- scale circulating fluidized bed unit. The chemical characterization of the liquid products was performed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS).The gas yields increased with temperature and the presence of ZSM-5 contributed to greater quantities of gaseous deoxygenation products. The coke yields decreased with reaction temperature, but were not influenced by the bed reactor material. Bagasse produced more gas and less coke than pinewood. The liquid yields passed through a maximum at 500 °C.The catalytic pyrolysis with ZSM-5 generated a significantly greater amount of valuable aromatic compounds, such as toluene and C2-benzene isomers (xylenes and ethyl-benzene), which are petrochemical intermediates with high added values. The source of biomass proved to be relevant to define bio-oil chemical composition. Hydrocarbon and ketone yields were higher for pyrolysis of pinewood, while carboxylic acids, cycloketones, and O-heterocyclic compounds increased when bagasse was pyrolyzed.