Catalytic effect on pyrolysis of rice straw

Abstract

A study of the catalytic pyrolysis on rice straw was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor. The work objectives were to determine the effect of catalyst on distribution of product yield and bio-oil characterization. The non-catalytic and catalytic process of rice straw was performed at the optimum conditions with zeolite ZSM-5 and dolomite catalyst. The highest bio-oil yield from the catalytic pyrolysis was 26.3% with zeolite ZSM-5, while the bio-oil from non-catalytic pyrolysis was 27.6%. Elemental composition and spectroscopic methods were applied for characterization of bio-oil. The chemical characterization studies of uncatalysed bio-oil derived from pyrolysis of rice straw contained considerable amounts of carbonyl and oxygenated compound, resulting in higher oxygen content in elemental composition. In the presence of the catalyst the yield of bio-oil was markedly reduced and the oxygen content of the bio-oil also reduced. The product yields and the quality of the produced bio-oil were significantly affected by the used of catalyst.