Catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose over solid acidic catalysts: an environment-friendly method for furan production

The production of high-valuable chemicals, such as furans, from biomass is a hot topic in the past decade. It used to be abstracted from fossil resources. This paper presents a study on the production of furan compounds via catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose on a two-staged fixed-bed reactor. Four solid acidic catalysts including Nb2O5, gamma-Al2O3, ZSM-5, and TS-1, were used for the catalytic cracking. The selectivity of furans is 9.6% in a blank test and increased to 43.9% and 20.7% over TS-1 and Nb2O5, respectively. Nevertheless, ZSM-5 and gamma-Al(2)O(3)lowered the furan selectivity to 6.8% and 8.8%, respectively. The relationship between the physicochemical properties of different catalysts and their catalytic selectivity towards furan compounds were discussed based on characterization results of N(2)physisorption, XRD, NH3-TPD, Py-IR, and TG/DTG.

Automated summary

This paper presents a study on the production of furan compounds via catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose on a two-staged fixed-bed reactor using four solid acidic catalysts. The selectivity of furans varies with different catalysts, with TS-1 and Nb2O5 showing higher selectivity and ZSM-5 and γ-Al2O3 lowering the furan selectivity. The relationship between the physicochemical properties of catalysts and their catalytic selectivity towards furan compounds was discussed based on characterization results.