Abstract:

The pyrolysis of olive pomace was carried out at two different heating rates at 500°C in the absence and presence of catalysts (commercial fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), aluminosilicate zeolite (ZSM-5) and red mud) using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The products obtained from biomass components in different temperature ranges by sequential pyrolysis of olive pomace were investigated. In addition, the apparent activation energy of olive pomace was calculated by thermogravimetric analysis method and determined as 105.6 kJ mole-1 by Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method and 110.2 kJ mole-1 by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) method. According to Py-GC/MS results, the main components in bio-oil consists of phenolic compounds. In sequential pyrolysis, while the highest organic acid was obtained at low temperatures, phenolic compounds were formed at high temperatures. While bio-oil obtained by fast pyrolysis has higher organic acid content than that of bio-oil obtained by slow pyrolysis, slow pyrolysis bio-oil contains more furan and aliphatic ketone, aldehyde and ester. Catalytic studies revealed that catalysts were more effective in the slow pyrolysis process, which allows prolonged catalyst-pyrolysis vapor contact.

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