Stabilization of Fast Pyrolysis Oil Derived

What is it about?

Stabilization of pyrolysis oil: The produced liquid fuel obtained from fast pyrolysis of wood has certain drawbacks such as short shelf life. In this study we have identified and developed a stabilization process to produce pyrolysis oil with reduced acid value and reduced extent of polymerization over time. The process essentially consists of converting the carboxylic acids in pyrolysis oil to the corresponding esters in the presence of Amberlyst-15 catalyst. Ester formation reduces the pH, thereby increasing the shelf-life of the pyrolysis oil. Azeotropic removal of water by reactive distillation was found to be effective in this work. It results in an improvement in the characteristic properties of pyrolysis oil, e.g. reduction in pH (2.78 to 4.41), moisture content (26.36 to 2.06 wt%), heating value (22.21 to 29.6 MJ/kg) and viscosity, thereby increasing the shelf life. It is realized that catalyst deactivation is another hurdle in stabilization process. Characterization of fresh and used catalyst by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurement and thermal analysis showed that the deposition of carbonaceous material on the catalyst is responsible for its deactivation. Identification of compound responsible for deactivation was carried out. During this work, I have learned to coordinate with different fields of researcher. At the end of this work I was expert in reactive distillation column arrangements. Most of other department researcher used to get in touch with me in related to characterization of catalyst (BET, TGA, SEM, CHNS analysis, GC analysis etc) and column design for separation of pure chemicals. I used to guide Master students in characterization of solid catalyst and gas analysis from pyrolysis of biomass.

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