Selective conversion of bio-oil to light olefins: Controlling catalytic cracking for maximum olefins

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2011-10, Vol.102 (19), p.9247-9254
• Main Authors: Gong, Feiyan, Yang, Zhi, Hong, Chenggui, Huang, Weiwei, Ning, Shen, Zhang, Zhaoxia, Xu, Yong, Li, Quanxin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkenes - chemical synthesis; Alkenes - chemistry; Bio-oil; Biological and medical sciences; Catalysis; Catalysts; Catalytic cracking; Conversion; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hot Temperature; La/HZSM-5 catalyst; Lanthanum - chemistry; Light olefins; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Methyl alcohol; Models, Chemical; Olefins; Photoelectron Spectroscopy; Plant Oils - chemistry; Pyrolysis; Stability; X-Ray Diffraction; Zeolites; Zeolites - chemistry
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.07.009

[Display omitted] ► Light olefins are the key and basic feedstock for petrochemical industry. ► Selective production of olefins from bio-oil realized by La-modified zeolite. ► The olefins yield from bio-oil is close to the level from methanol. ► The olefins yield from bio-oil is about 85% of the theoretical yield. ► Increasing medium acid sites enhance olefin selectivity and suppress coke formation. Light olefins are the basic building blocks for the petrochemical industry. In this work, selective production of light olefins from catalytic cracking of bio-oil was performed by using the La/HZSM-5 catalyst. With a nearly complete conversion of bio-oil, the maximum yield reached 0.28±0.02kg olefins/(kg bio-oil), which was close to that from methanol. Addition of La into zeolite efficiently changed the total acid amount of HZSM-5, especially the acid distribution among the strong, medium and weak acid sites. A moderate increase of the number of the medium acid sites effectively enhanced the olefins selectivity and improved the catalyst stability. The comparison between the catalytic cracking and pyrolysis of bio-oil was studied. The mechanism of the conversion of bio-oil to light olefins was also discussed.