Low temperature catalytic pyrolysis of corn-stalks- Anovel route to the production of Bio-oil and valuable chemical feedstock.

Abstract

Dry corn stalks were catalytically and uncatalytically thermally decomposed at 300 oC for different retention times (2-6 h). The catalyst employed in the pyrolysis process was Pd-doped -Al2O3. The bio-oils produced were detected and identified using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results showed that the presence of the catalyst increased the bio-oil yield by approximately 50% relative to the uncatalyzed process. The bio-oils produced were found to contain carboxylic acids, esters, alcohols, phenols, alkanes, guaiacols, multi-component compounds, and miscellaneous oxygenates. Some of the compounds identified were produced in large volumes. The results of this study indicate that low-temperature catalytic pyrolysis of corn stalks is a promising technology for the commercial production of bio-oil and valuable chemical feedstock.