Cover Picture: Green Gasoline by Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Solid Biomass Derived Compounds (ChemSusChem 5/2008)

Abstract

The cover picture shows a scheme for the conversion of cellulose into gasoline‐range aromatics by catalytic fast pyrolysis. Owing to its recalcitrance, there are currently no economical processes for the direct conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into useful chemicals and fuels. G. W. Huber et al. report in the Communication on a process that they have developed which involves the thermal decomposition of cellulose to smaller volatile oxygenates as the first step. These biomass‐derived species then enter the pores of the zeolite catalyst ZSM5, where they undergo a series of dehydration, decarbonylation, decarboxylation, isomerization, oligomerization, and dehydrogenation reactions that lead to aromatics, including naphthalene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and benzene, and by‐products such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water. All this takes place at short residence times (less than 2 min) at 600 °C in a single reactor.

Analytical study on the pyrolytic behaviour of cellulose in the presence of MCM-41 mesoporous materials

“…The influence of MCM-41 materials on the pyrolytic behaviour of cellulose, and in particular on the yields of di-and tri-anhydrosugars has been less investigated, therefore this topic became the objective of the present study. Analytical pyrolysis is known to provide a valid contribution to the study of catalyst activity in biomass pyrolysis [10,15,16,18], and herein was applied in the off-line configuration to gather quantitative information on the yields of pyrolysis products [12]. The interest was focused on the production of LAC given its potentiality as a chemical intermediate for fine chemicals [13] and biodegradable polymers [14].…”

“…Zeolites have been widely studied as heterogeneous catalysts in biomass conversion [1][2][3]15], but these materials are not fitted for the production of anhydrosugars due to their small pore size and strong acidity that cause severe dehydration and coking of the cellulosic fraction [12,16]. In searching for less dehydrating but still active molecular sieves, it is worth considering the class of mesoporous materials, especially the MCM-41 type, which are characterised by relatively larger pore size and milder acidity and usefully applied in the field of catalysis [17].…”

Pirólise rápida do bagaço de sorgo sacarino: influência da temperatura, de aditivos e de catalisadores

“…Dong et al 2015 A pirólise da biomassa tem sido realizada na presença de catalisadores ácidos de zeólita microporosa (H-ZSM-5), obtendo-se um aumento da fração de aromáticos (até 30%) no bio-óleo resultante ( CARLSON et al, 2008;CARLSON et al, 2009).…”