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Catalytic Pyrolysis Vapor Upgrading of Corncob into Furans over Pyrolysis-Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: Significance of Catalyst and Temperature

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Analytical pyrolysis-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC×GC/MS) was employed for the on-line analysis of catalytic pyrolysis products distribution and furans selectivity of corncob. Different catalysts (TiO2, ZrO2, MCM-41 and activated carbon (AC)) and catalytic temperature (350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C) were investigated. The catalysts were subjected to several characterization methods, including temperature programmed decomposition of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and N2 adsorption-desorption, to investigate the effects of physical-chemical properties of the catalysts on products distribution and furans selectivity. The experiment results showed that a lower catalytic temperature (≤ 400 °C) was conductive to form furans and higher catalytic temperature (≥ 450 °C) was promoted hydrocarbons formation, among the four catalysts. The AC catalyst gave higher furans relative peak area (54.48%) than other catalysts (31.24% ~ 41.99%). And higher total acidity (weak acidity) of AC was favored for the formation of furfural and furan, 2-methyl- at 350 °C. Moreover, AC had the great thermal stability, and the catalyst recycling tests showed that the prepared AC can be reused for five times in furan-rich bio-oil production. After cycle, the relative peak area of furans also maintained above 40%. In addition, furan, 2-methyl- always maintained a high relative peak area (8%). It was expected that four type catalysts can be widely used for biomass catalytic conversion to produce furans processes at low catalytic temperature, especially the AC.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31670599 and 31870570) and Major Scientific and Technological Projects of New Energy in Yunnan Province (2015ZB001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Laboratory for Highly-Efficient Utilization of Biomass, Yunnan Province, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, 650224, China

    Wenbin Li, Yi Lu, Jida Wang & Yunwu Zheng

  2. Xiamen Key Laboratory for High-valued Conversion Technology of Agricultural Biomass, Fujian Provincial Engineering and Research Center of Clean and High-valued Technologies for Biomass, College of Energy, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, China

    Wenbin Li, Yongfeng Zhu, Xingyong Li, Shuirong Li & Zhifeng Zheng

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  1. Wenbin Li
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  2. Yi Lu
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Li, W., Lu, Y., Zhu, Y. et al. Catalytic Pyrolysis Vapor Upgrading of Corncob into Furans over Pyrolysis-Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: Significance of Catalyst and Temperature. Bioenerg. Res. 13, 1180–1193 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10146-3

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