Rapid screening of catalytic pyrolysis reactions of Organosolv lignins with the vTI-mini fast pyrolyzer

Abstract

The vTI-mini fast pyrolyzer was applied for screening fast pyrolysis reactions of different Organosolv lignins, such as Alcell (Repap Technologies) and lignin from a German biorefinery project. To investigate the catalytic effects on the pyrolysis of the technical lignins, three catalysts such as zeolite HZSM-5, FCC, and Olivine were used. The catalytic pyrolysis characteristics and decomposition products of the Organosolv lignins were scrutinized by varying pyrolysis temperature and catalyst type. From the pyrolysis experiments, obtained pyrolyzed products were generally categorized into three parts such as coke, noncondensable gas, and biocrude oil. To evaluate the yield of biocrude oil, mass balances of products and reactants were established and the collected biocrude oil was analyzed by GC/MS. From the results, the increase or decrease patterns of certain chemical compounds were found according to the different pyrolysis temperatures as well as various catalysts. In particular, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was performed for extracts of the solid residue to get information on the catalytic effect and severity of lignin degradation. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2012