An experimental and kinetic modeling study including coke formation for catalytic pyrolysis of furfural

Catalytic conversion of furfural to olefins and aromatics was conducted over ZSM-5 in a fixed-bed reactor. The effects of temperature, weight hourly space velocity and partial pressure on the yield and selectivity of products were investigated and the coked catalysts were characterized. The kinetics of furfural catalytic conversion including catalyst deactivation caused by coke deposition was built. The results showed that the main products of furfural catalytic conversion were aromatics, olefins, furan and coke. High temperature, high partial pressure and low WHSV promoted the formation of olefins and aromatics. The catalytic reaction pathway was speculated to be the decarboxylation of furfural to form furan, with further reactions to form olefins and aromatics. The amount of coke deposited on the catalyst increased with increasing reaction time. The surface area and acidity of catalysts declined as coke formed on the acid sites and blocked the pore channels, which led to the decrease of olefin and aromatic yields. Finally, a kinetic model considering coke deposition had been built based on the above reaction pathway to properly predict the product distribution.