Biomass Pyrolysis Interfaced with Honeycomb Structured Upgrading Reactor for the Production of High Quality Biofuels

A reactor interfaced a pyrolysis zone with a doubly stacked honeycomb catalytic upgrading zone was designed and evaluated for biomass conversion to liquid fuels. The pyrolysis zone was operated through a bubbling bed with fine sand particles as the heat carrier. Two zeolite-coated cordierite honeycomb (ZCCH) catalyst matrices separately prepared using ZSM-5 of different Si/Al ratios were stacked in the upgrading zone. The results showed that ZCCH catalytic upgrading following the steam pyrolysis of corncob effectively reduced the oxygen content and viscosity of bio-oil. The yield, HHV and stability of the bio-oil were increased by the presence of a moderate amount of ethanol. The HHV of bio-oil was found to linearly correlate with the oxygen concentration in the oil. Models of bio-oil energy yield from corncob based on unit energy yield and yield in ethanol equivalent (YEE, in L ethanol) were developed according to the oxygen content in the produced bio-oils.