Evaluation of Bio-Oils Produced From Pomegranate Pulp Catalytic Pyrolysis

Abstract

Biomass pyrolysis experiments were conducted in a fixed-bed tubular reactor with a selected commercial catalyst, namely ZSM-5, to increase the oil yield. Experiments were conducted at a sweeping gas flow rate of 100cm3/min nitrogen atmospheres and a heating rate of 100°C/min, pyrolysis temperature of 550°C, and mean particle size of 0.53mm. The catalyst was used at various percentages, and the effects of the catalyst on the yields and chemical composition of the obtained oils were investigated. The oil yield reached 43.56% with the use of ZSM-5, whereas it was only 35.36% without a catalyst. The spectroscopic and chromatographic analysis techniques were used to examine the pyrolysis oils. Bio-oils obtained at the optimum conditions were separated into aromatic, aliphatic, and polar subfractions. Bio-oils were subjected to elemental, Fourier transform infrared, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance analyses after the application of column chromatography. Aliphatic subfractions of bio-oils were analyzed by gas chromatography-mas spectroscopy. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.