ENK6-2001-00510 BIOCAT - Catalyst Development For Catalytic Biomass Flash Pyrolysis Producing Promissing Liquid Bio-Fuels

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Chemical Conversion : EESD (Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development) : Liquid Biofuels and Biogas : Thermochemical Conversion

Proposal No:	ENK6-2001-00510
Date Prepared:	February 2004
Source:	European Bio-Energy Projects (EUR 20808)

Introduction

Biomass flash pyrolysis (BFP) is a very promising thermochemical process for the production of liquid products (up to 80%wt on biomass). However, large-scale applications are still under careful consideration because of the high upgrading costs required for BFP liquids. In this project the possibility for the production of stable liquid bio-fuels from biomass flash pyrolysis in a single stage catalytic process is being investigated. This is achieved through mild cracking reactions taking place in the presence of appropriate catalysts within the pyrolysis process and prior bio-oil condensation, without the use of external hydrogen.

Activities

The scope of this project is to develop an efficient technology for the conversion of biomass to clean and renewable liquid bio-oil. This is in order to facilitate its introduction to the European energy market as a renewable fuel for diesel engines or as a source of high value chemicals. The technology will be based on catalytic biomass pyrolysis using new innovative porous catalysts and novel reactors.

The initial phase of the project includes fundamental studies for the development and bench scale evaluation of the appropriate new catalysts. In a second phase the most promising catalysts are scaled up and evaluated in pilot scale in three reactor technologies. Finally the bio-oil is tested in diesel engines while phenols separated from bio-oil are tested as wood adhesive. The experiments performed provide the basis for kinetic and reactor modelling studies along with technoeconomical studies of the integrated technology.

Progress

The project has completed its first year and the main work was mainly devoted to the synthesis and evaluation of new, innovative, catalytic materials (based on mesoporous MCM-41 and zeolitic ZSM-5) for biomass catalytic pyrolysis using three different biomass feeds. Both types of catalysts were evaluated in a bench scale reactor. The results showed that the type of used catalysts can completely alter the composition of the bio-oil obtained from biomass pyrolysis. From this evaluation the best ZSM-5 and MCM-41 catalysts in terms of the quality of the bio-liquid produced were identified and proposed for scale up studies in the three pilot plants.

The pilot plant testing of biomass catalytic pyrolysis is in progress and up-to-date preliminary tests were carried out in a fluid bed and in a circulating fluid bed reactor. Modelling studies, taking into account decomposition kinetics and the relevant transport phenomena, were also performed based on literature data and data provided from the partners. Regarding the extraction of useful chemicals from bio-oil, an effective separation procedure was developed based on the washing of bio-oil with dichloromethane (DCM) and small amounts of acetone. A liquid-liquid extraction scheme was applied in order to separate and analyse the oil components into different groups on the basis of their polarity: neutrals, phenols, acids and bases.

Finally the specifications of bio-oil, which are required to run it in diesel engines, were established and it was found that the fuel acidity and the high temperature stability are the most important properties. Moreover, the use of biooil as a substitute for petroleum phenol, for the production of Phenol-Formaldehyde (PF) synthetic resins (which are commonly applied in wood panel manufacture), was tested using a noncatalytic bio-oil. It was found that even this liquid could be used at substitution levels up to 30%. Catalytically produced bio-oil is going to be tested in diesel engines and in PF production in the next phase of the project.

Impact and exploitation

Upon the successful development of a catalytic biomass pyrolysis process, the interest and application of pyrolysis oils will be increased. This will have a positive impact on the environment since the use of this renewable bio-fuel will help Europe to meet the target of the Kyoto Protocol, that is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 8 % up to 2010 (300 t CO₂ reduction/t of biomass). Moreover, the project will enforce the biomass role in the European energy balance. By developing a promising technology, the cost and risks of fossil fuel imports will be eliminated and the project will help to contribute to the EU goal of increasing the share of renewable energy sources to 12% in the European energy market by the year 2010. The project will also have a positive impact on the development of a new market for the non-fuel applications of bio-oil (substitution of petrochemicals with biochemicals) with a much higher added-value.

Taking into account all these applications of bio-oil, the contribution to the rural economy will be important and new employment opportunities will be created in Europe. Regarding the exploitation of the project results, it concerns the development of new processes (BTG, CPERI), new catalysts (GRACE, SINTEF) and bio-adhesives (ARI). A further scaling up of the catalytic biomass pyrolysis process is foreseen and this could be the subject of a future EU demonstration project.