Analytical fast pyrolysis of P. Juliflora: A thermal and catalytic study

Mpho thabang Rapoo; Saranpreet Singh; Katie Chong; Scott Banks; Paula h. Blanco sanchez

doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106254

Analytical fast pyrolysis of P. Juliflora: A thermal and catalytic study

Mpho thabang Rapoo, Saranpreet Singh, Katie Chong, Scott Banks, Paula h. Blanco sanchez^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Thermal and catalytic fast pyrolysis of Prosopis juliflora (P.juliflora), fractions namely wood, seed pods, leaves and their mixtures (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10, and seeds: leaves at 50:50) were investigated. Fast pyrolysis tests were performed in a py-GC/MS to study the product distribution at 450, 500 and 550 °C. Further catalytic tests at 500 °C, used HZSM-5, 1 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5 and 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5, and the wood fraction as feedstock. For all the non-catalytic thermal tests, significant proportions of acids, ketones, aldehydes, sugars, alcohols, phenols, nitrogenous compounds (NITs) and other oxygenates were observed. Out of the three Prosopis fractions studied, the wood at 500 °C yielded the highest amount of ketones, aldehydes and phenolics (78.67%), whilst the mixture (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10), yielded 83.04%. This suggests that Prosopis feedstock can be processed as a mixture thus eliminating the need for pre-separation. The catalytic tests were completed at 500 °C with catalyst: biomass ratios (C/B) of 3:1, 6:1 and 9:1. The use of zeolite-based catalysts, improved the product distribution by forming aromatic hydrocarbons (monocyclic) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) thus reducing the proportion of oxygenates detected in the thermal tests. The addition of nickel to the zeolite catalyst (9:1 C/B ratio; 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5), resulted in aromatics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) yields of 60.28% and 27.50%, respectively. Overall, the tests using Ni-loaded zeolites showed selectivity towards aromatics, as higher proportions were obtained when compared to PAHs. Our results correlated the influence of specific components in the individual fractions of Prosopis (wood, seeds, and leaves) on the pyrolysis products. We established the potential of using an invasive plant to yield aromatics, which are main components for biofuels production, thus proposing a sustainable pathway to manage its spread and to yield a high-value product.

Original language	English
Article number	106254
Journal	Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
Volume	176
Early online date	8 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106254
Publication status	Published - Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

© 2023 The Authors. CC BY 4.0

Funding: This PhD research project is supported by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology through providing a full scholarship to the first author. The authors would like to thank the Clean Energy Building, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for access to their analytical equipment for catalyst characterisation, as well as the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (Grant Agreement No. 823745) for funding the secondment undertook at HUST.

Keywords

Aromatics
Catalytic fast pyrolysis
HZSM-5
P. juliflora
Py-GC/MS
Zeolite

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title = "Analytical fast pyrolysis of P. Juliflora: A thermal and catalytic study",

abstract = "Thermal and catalytic fast pyrolysis of Prosopis juliflora (P.juliflora), fractions namely wood, seed pods, leaves and their mixtures (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10, and seeds: leaves at 50:50) were investigated. Fast pyrolysis tests were performed in a py-GC/MS to study the product distribution at 450, 500 and 550 °C. Further catalytic tests at 500 °C, used HZSM-5, 1 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5 and 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5, and the wood fraction as feedstock. For all the non-catalytic thermal tests, significant proportions of acids, ketones, aldehydes, sugars, alcohols, phenols, nitrogenous compounds (NITs) and other oxygenates were observed. Out of the three Prosopis fractions studied, the wood at 500 °C yielded the highest amount of ketones, aldehydes and phenolics (78.67%), whilst the mixture (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10), yielded 83.04%. This suggests that Prosopis feedstock can be processed as a mixture thus eliminating the need for pre-separation. The catalytic tests were completed at 500 °C with catalyst: biomass ratios (C/B) of 3:1, 6:1 and 9:1. The use of zeolite-based catalysts, improved the product distribution by forming aromatic hydrocarbons (monocyclic) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) thus reducing the proportion of oxygenates detected in the thermal tests. The addition of nickel to the zeolite catalyst (9:1 C/B ratio; 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5), resulted in aromatics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) yields of 60.28% and 27.50%, respectively. Overall, the tests using Ni-loaded zeolites showed selectivity towards aromatics, as higher proportions were obtained when compared to PAHs. Our results correlated the influence of specific components in the individual fractions of Prosopis (wood, seeds, and leaves) on the pyrolysis products. We established the potential of using an invasive plant to yield aromatics, which are main components for biofuels production, thus proposing a sustainable pathway to manage its spread and to yield a high-value product.",

keywords = "Aromatics, Catalytic fast pyrolysis, HZSM-5, P. juliflora, Py-GC/MS, Zeolite",

author = "Rapoo, {Mpho thabang} and Saranpreet Singh and Katie Chong and Scott Banks and {Blanco sanchez}, {Paula h.}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. CC BY 4.0 Funding: This PhD research project is supported by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology through providing a full scholarship to the first author. The authors would like to thank the Clean Energy Building, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for access to their analytical equipment for catalyst characterisation, as well as the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie Action (Grant Agreement No. 823745) for funding the secondment undertook at HUST.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106254",

language = "English",

volume = "176",

journal = "Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis",

issn = "0165-2370",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Analytical fast pyrolysis of P. Juliflora: A thermal and catalytic study

AU - Rapoo, Mpho thabang

AU - Singh, Saranpreet

AU - Chong, Katie

AU - Banks, Scott

AU - Blanco sanchez, Paula h.

N1 - © 2023 The Authors. CC BY 4.0 Funding: This PhD research project is supported by the Botswana International University of Science and Technology through providing a full scholarship to the first author. The authors would like to thank the Clean Energy Building, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for access to their analytical equipment for catalyst characterisation, as well as the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (Grant Agreement No. 823745) for funding the secondment undertook at HUST.

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - Thermal and catalytic fast pyrolysis of Prosopis juliflora (P.juliflora), fractions namely wood, seed pods, leaves and their mixtures (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10, and seeds: leaves at 50:50) were investigated. Fast pyrolysis tests were performed in a py-GC/MS to study the product distribution at 450, 500 and 550 °C. Further catalytic tests at 500 °C, used HZSM-5, 1 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5 and 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5, and the wood fraction as feedstock. For all the non-catalytic thermal tests, significant proportions of acids, ketones, aldehydes, sugars, alcohols, phenols, nitrogenous compounds (NITs) and other oxygenates were observed. Out of the three Prosopis fractions studied, the wood at 500 °C yielded the highest amount of ketones, aldehydes and phenolics (78.67%), whilst the mixture (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10), yielded 83.04%. This suggests that Prosopis feedstock can be processed as a mixture thus eliminating the need for pre-separation. The catalytic tests were completed at 500 °C with catalyst: biomass ratios (C/B) of 3:1, 6:1 and 9:1. The use of zeolite-based catalysts, improved the product distribution by forming aromatic hydrocarbons (monocyclic) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) thus reducing the proportion of oxygenates detected in the thermal tests. The addition of nickel to the zeolite catalyst (9:1 C/B ratio; 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5), resulted in aromatics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) yields of 60.28% and 27.50%, respectively. Overall, the tests using Ni-loaded zeolites showed selectivity towards aromatics, as higher proportions were obtained when compared to PAHs. Our results correlated the influence of specific components in the individual fractions of Prosopis (wood, seeds, and leaves) on the pyrolysis products. We established the potential of using an invasive plant to yield aromatics, which are main components for biofuels production, thus proposing a sustainable pathway to manage its spread and to yield a high-value product.

AB - Thermal and catalytic fast pyrolysis of Prosopis juliflora (P.juliflora), fractions namely wood, seed pods, leaves and their mixtures (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10, and seeds: leaves at 50:50) were investigated. Fast pyrolysis tests were performed in a py-GC/MS to study the product distribution at 450, 500 and 550 °C. Further catalytic tests at 500 °C, used HZSM-5, 1 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5 and 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5, and the wood fraction as feedstock. For all the non-catalytic thermal tests, significant proportions of acids, ketones, aldehydes, sugars, alcohols, phenols, nitrogenous compounds (NITs) and other oxygenates were observed. Out of the three Prosopis fractions studied, the wood at 500 °C yielded the highest amount of ketones, aldehydes and phenolics (78.67%), whilst the mixture (wood: seeds: leaves at 80:10:10), yielded 83.04%. This suggests that Prosopis feedstock can be processed as a mixture thus eliminating the need for pre-separation. The catalytic tests were completed at 500 °C with catalyst: biomass ratios (C/B) of 3:1, 6:1 and 9:1. The use of zeolite-based catalysts, improved the product distribution by forming aromatic hydrocarbons (monocyclic) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) thus reducing the proportion of oxygenates detected in the thermal tests. The addition of nickel to the zeolite catalyst (9:1 C/B ratio; 5 wt.% Ni-HZSM-5), resulted in aromatics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) yields of 60.28% and 27.50%, respectively. Overall, the tests using Ni-loaded zeolites showed selectivity towards aromatics, as higher proportions were obtained when compared to PAHs. Our results correlated the influence of specific components in the individual fractions of Prosopis (wood, seeds, and leaves) on the pyrolysis products. We established the potential of using an invasive plant to yield aromatics, which are main components for biofuels production, thus proposing a sustainable pathway to manage its spread and to yield a high-value product.

KW - Aromatics

KW - Catalytic fast pyrolysis

KW - HZSM-5

KW - P. juliflora

KW - Py-GC/MS

KW - Zeolite

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176291165&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106254

DO - 10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106254

M3 - Article

SN - 0165-2370

VL - 176

JO - Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

JF - Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

M1 - 106254

ER -

Analytical fast pyrolysis of P. Juliflora: A thermal and catalytic study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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