Catalytic cracking of Etek lignin with zirconia supported metal-oxides for alkyl and alkoxy phenols recovery

Abbie Hendry; Michelle Åhlén; Tony Fernandes; Ocean Cheung; Aimaro Sanna

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124008

Catalytic cracking of Etek lignin with zirconia supported metal-oxides for alkyl and alkoxy phenols recovery

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Dec:317:124008. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124008. Epub 2020 Aug 12.

Authors

Abbie Hendry¹, Michelle Åhlén², Tony Fernandes³, Ocean Cheung², Aimaro Sanna⁴

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Biofuels Lab, Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
² Nanotechnology and Functional Materials Division, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala 534 751 21, Sweden.
³ Advanced Biofuels Lab, Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK; Polytech Montpellier, Département MAT, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, CEDEX 5, France.
⁴ Advanced Biofuels Lab, Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK. Electronic address: A.Sanna@hw.ac.uk.

PMID: 32818909
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124008

Abstract

Alkyl and alkoxy phenols are desirable products from the catalytic depolymerisation of lignin. In this work, ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis of Etek lignin in presence of Na, Ce, NiCe, MgCe, Fe and FePd on ZrO₂ was studied_. The largest combined yield of monomeric phenolics and alkylphenols was produced by Na/ZrO₂ catalysts. A parametric study of the most promising Na/ZrO₂ then resulted in using a catalyst:lignin ratio of 3:1 at 500 °C as the best option, enhancing at 17.5 wt% the recovery of total phenolics including 6 wt% alkyl phenols, which is equivalent to 27.8 wt% and 9.5 wt% of the starting lignin in Etek lignin waste. The study of the catalyst basicity indicates that the mild basicity of Na/ZrO₂ was mostly responsible for the enhanced mono phenols recovery. Due to formation of thermally stable Na₂CO₃ during pyrolysis, successful Na/ZrO₂ regeneration requires temperature of 900 °C or higher.

Keywords: Alkylphenols, basicity; Catalytic cracking; Lignin; Pyrolysis; Sodium zirconate; ZrO(2).

MeSH terms

Alcohols
Catalysis
Lignin*
Oxides
Phenols*
Zirconium

Substances

Alcohols
Oxides
Phenols
alkoxyl radical
Lignin
Zirconium
zirconium oxide