Production of biofuels from pine needle via catalytic fast pyrolysis over HBeta

The thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of pine needles over HBeta catalysts with different SiO2/Al2O3 ratios (25 and 300) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and pyrolyzer-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. TGA showed that the main decomposition of pine needles occurred between 150 and 550 degrees C. The catalytic DTG curves revealed the same decomposition temperature region as the non-catalytic TG curve of pine needles. Pyrolyzergas chromatography/mass spectrometry suggested that the effective catalytic conversion of pyrolyzate intermediates and other hydrocarbons to aromatic hydrocarbons can be achieved using HBeta catalysts at 600 degrees C. HBeta(25) produced a larger amount of aromatic hydrocarbons than HBeta(300) because of its higher acid amounts. By increasing the reaction temperature from 500 to 700 degrees C, the formation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEXs) and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was increased with a concomitant decrease in phenolics and other oxygenates. The formation efficiency of BTEXs was increased further by increasing the catalyst loading.