Catalytic upgrading of woody biomass derived pyrolysis vapours over iron modified zeolites in a dual-fluidized bed reactor

In this paper, the influence of the proton forms of beta, Y and ferrierite zeolites and their iron modified counterparts during upgrading of pine wood pyrolysis vapours under nitrogen atmosphere was investigated. A dual-fluidized bed reactor was used where in the first bed pyrolysis of pine wood occurred, and in the second upgrading of the pyrolysis vapours over zeolites was conducted. The temperature for pyrolysis and upgrading was 400 and 450 degrees C, respectively. De-oxygenation reactions over the proton form and iron modified zeolites increased compared to the non-catalytic pyrolysis. The increased selectivity towards organic compounds through de-oxygenation could be noticed as a higher water yield and CO formation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.