Evaluation of bio-char as porous catalyst support in the pyrolysis of Brassica napus subsp. napus cake

Abstract

It is very important to produce carbonaceous porous material from sustainable biomass resource and to investigate its different application areas. In this study, it was aimed to use fir wood sawdust as catalyst support material in precious metal catalysts and to evaluate this catalyst in pyrolysis reactions of Brassica napus subsp. napus cake. Fir wood sawdust, which have high carbon and volatile matter content, was a suitable raw material for the production of bio-char by carbonization of biomass. 1%, 3% and 5% platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) metal loading was applied to fir wood sawdust biochar (FB) and the obtained catalysts were characterized. Among the different metal-loaded catalysts, the catalysts with the highest BET surface area are 5%Pd-FB and 1%Pd-FB catalysts. TEM images showed that as the amount of metal was increased, the particle size of Pd metal was also increased. ICP-OES results verified that the used impregnation method was more efficient and the standard deviation proportion was lower at low metal ratios. Pyrolysis experiments of B. napus subsp. napus were carried out in analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) system with and without catalyst. Pyrolysis products was mixture of organic compounds in the range of C-7-C-29 carbons. With the application of catalytic pyrolysis, while the amount of alcohol, which was the desired product, was increased in the pyrolysis product, the amount of acid, which was the undesired product, was decreased. However, the amount of PAH, which was an undesirable product, increased with some catalyst applications, showed that bi-metallic catalyst applications can also be applied in future studies. Experimental results and discussions showed that the synthesis of carbon support material from biomass, which is a cheap and renewable resource, is a promising study.