THE EFFECT OF MESOPOROUS SILICA-ALUMINA AND IRON LOADING ON CATALYTIC CRACKING OF BIO-OIL

Catalytic cracking of bio-oil derived from woody biomass (Japanese cedar) was carried out at 450°C, ambient pressure under He atmosphere using mesoporous silica-alumina (MSAl), iron loaded mesoporous silica (MS/Fe) and iron loaded mesoporous slica-alumina (MSAl/Fe). The bio-oil before and after cracking were characterized by ultimate analysis, GC/MS and FT-IR measurement. When MSAl catalysts (Al = 1, 5, 10 mol%) were used, H/C and O/C of the reformed bio-oil decreased with increasing the Al content. In contrast, when MS/Fe catalysts (Fe = 1, 5, 10 wt%) were used, H/C and O/C of the reformed bio-oil increased with increasing Fe loading. Moreover, when MSAl/Fe catalysts (Al = 1, 5, 10 mol% and Fe = 10wt%) were used, O/C in the reformed bio-oil decreased with increasing Al content while H/C did not decrease. From the Van Krevelen diagram, it was proved that MSAl/Fe catalysts, which contains both of Al and Fe, promoted decarboxylation reaction as well as dehydration.  The results of GC/MS analysis mainly showed that the bio-oils before and after cracking were rich in phenols. Interestingly, the FT-IR spectra of the bio-oil indicated that decomposition of conjugated ketones proceeded in MSAl/Fe catalysts, which is possibly related to the decarboxylation reaction.