Olive stone a drupe endocarp lignocellulosic material has been identified as a high-lignin feedstock with great potential for the production of biofuels and biochemical aromatic derivatives [1], with great abundance and availability within the Mediterranean region with the region responsible for producing 97% of the world total olive consumption [2, 3]. The adoption of olive stone in thermochemical applications has been spurred on by its favourable physicochemical characteristics, which include low moisture content, uniform size, high energy density and very low ash content compared with most waste biomass streams which reduces the operational costs associated with its usage [3]. The pyrolytic deconstruction of such high-lignin feedstocks produces greater yields of lignin based pyrolytic products such as phenolics which range from hydroxyl, alkyl and alkoxy substituted compounds that have great potential to serve as replacements for petroleum-derived phenols in applications such as lubricant additives, phenolic resins, polymer additives and agrochemicals [4-6]. In this study, torrefaction pretreatment was employed prior to the catalytic fast pyrolysis to improve the stability of the recovered bio-oil and improve selectivity towards desirable fraction of stable oxygenates. The torrefaction in this study was carried out in batch fluidised bed reactors at temperatures between 200-250 °C, then subsequently fast pyrolyzed at 500 °C in the presence of a catalytic bed. The intensification of the relative lignin content after torrefaction increased the selectivity towards phenolic derivatives with the ZSM-5 catalyst improving the yields of alkyl-phenols such as phenol;2-methyl-phenol;p-cresol;hydroxytoluene which as highlighted earlier could play a role in substituting some of the traditional petroleum derived phenols in various industries.
Catalytic pyrolysis of torrefied olive stone for production of potential petrochemical alternatives
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2021
Abstract
Olive stone a drupe endocarp lignocellulosic material has been identified as a high-lignin feedstock with great potential for the production of biofuels and biochemical aromatic derivatives [1], with great abundance and availability within the Mediterranean region with the region responsible for producing 97% of the world total olive consumption [2, 3]. The adoption of olive stone in thermochemical applications has been spurred on by its favourable physicochemical characteristics, which include low moisture content, uniform size, high energy density and very low ash content compared with most waste biomass streams which reduces the operational costs associated with its usage [3]. The pyrolytic deconstruction of such high-lignin feedstocks produces greater yields of lignin based pyrolytic products such as phenolics which range from hydroxyl, alkyl and alkoxy substituted compounds that have great potential to serve as replacements for petroleum-derived phenols in applications such as lubricant additives, phenolic resins, polymer additives and agrochemicals [4-6]. In this study, torrefaction pretreatment was employed prior to the catalytic fast pyrolysis to improve the stability of the recovered bio-oil and improve selectivity towards desirable fraction of stable oxygenates. The torrefaction in this study was carried out in batch fluidised bed reactors at temperatures between 200-250 °C, then subsequently fast pyrolyzed at 500 °C in the presence of a catalytic bed. The intensification of the relative lignin content after torrefaction increased the selectivity towards phenolic derivatives with the ZSM-5 catalyst improving the yields of alkyl-phenols such as phenol;2-methyl-phenol;p-cresol;hydroxytoluene which as highlighted earlier could play a role in substituting some of the traditional petroleum derived phenols in various industries.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
