Catalytic effect of ash on bio-oil thermal conversion

Abstract

This paper investigated the catalytic effect of inorganic elements in ash on bio-oil thermal conversion process (pyrolysis and gasification). Bio-oil with a natural ash contents of 0.05 wt.% and bio-oil added with 3 wt.% of ash were explored. The influence of ash content of the bio-oil conversion on char, tar and gas yields were investigated over a wide range of temperature from 500°C to 1200°C.

A Horizontal Tubular Reactor (HTR) is used for pyrolysis process and an Entrained Flow Reactor (EFR) is used for gasification process.

The experimental results showed that ash seems to favor re-polymerization reactions that lead to an increase in char yield and causing a decrease in the yield of gas while an increase was a priori expected.