Effect of Acid Concentration on the Activation of Bayah Natural Zeolite for Palm Kernel Shell Pyrolysis Application

Abstract

Biooil is the main product in the pyrolysis process which is expected to be a liquid fuel replacement solution. But the resulting biooil cannot be directly used as a result of high oxygenated compounds, high viscosity, corrosive, and unstable. Addition of activated natural zeolite catalyst to the pyrolysis process is expected to improve the quality of biooil in order to be used as a renewable liquid fuel. The research aims to determine the influence of acid concentrations on zeolite modification to the characteristics of pyrolysis products. Result of catalyst characterization indicates that zeolite activation using acid will increase Si/Al ratio as well as open the surface of previously hindered zeolite. The yield of char produced in this study tends not to undergo significant changes between the catalytic and noncatalytic pyrolysis by 33% wt. Addition of zeolite catalyst in pyrolysis proved to be able to increase the content of phenol and decrease the content of acetic acid in bio-oil by 6% . Meanwhile, yield of CO2 increases by 20% in the use of catalysts due to the release of oxygen in the oxygenate compounds. The results of this study showed that the resulting biooil still does not meet the specifications of liquid fuels but can be utilized as a renewable chemical feedstock.Keywords: pyrolysis; biomass; natural zeolite;modified

The Effect of Time on the Activation of Bayah Natural Zeolite for Application of Palm Oil Shell Pyrolysis

“…This is due to the decarboxylation reaction, which breaks the carboxylic chain group. This finding is in accordance with the research of Wibowo and Lestari [7], which compared the results of non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of palm kernel shells, which reduced acetic acid levels from 48% to 42.59%, respectively, by using the Bayah natural zeolite as a catalyst.…”

“…The addition of H2SO4 to the zeolite activation process causes the process of dealumination (Al that comes out of the zeolite framework). Similar research has been done by Suhendi et al [7] who used an acid treatment that decreased the XRD intensity of the zeolite framework because of dealumination. The separation of Al atoms from the zeolite structure framework can cause decrystallisation, an increase in irregular crystal structure, which reduces crystallinity [9].…”

“…The increased levels of phenols in biooil were due to the increased amount of lignin that was decomposed by the presence of catalysts in pyrolysis. Increased phenol levels in bio-oil also occur in the research of Wibowo and Lestari [7], where the results of non-catalytic bio-oil pyrolysis, with non-activated catalysts, as well as with catalysts activated with 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 M H2SO4 solutions, yields improvements of 40.31%, 40.83%, 47.47%, 43.90%, 45.94%, and 45.57%, respectively.…”

“…Figure 1 shows the parts of the pyrolysis apparatus: (1) reactor, (2) temperature Figure 1. Experimental apparatus for pyrolysis control, (3) pipe, (4) double pipe condenser, (5) gas reservoir, (6) analytical balance sheet, (7) fluid collector, (8) coolant pump, (9) thermometer, (10) coolant water tank, (11) nitrogen flow pipes, (12) nitrogen flow sealers.…”

“…The use of 1 M sulfuric acid increased the Si/Al ratio and produced a high yield of bio-oil. Research with similar methods using zeolites as a catalyst for the pyrolysis process is rarely reported [7].…”