Pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of pine wood in a combination of auger reactor and fixed bed

A combined system of auger pyrolysis reactor and fixed-bed catalytic reactor was designed and used for continuous pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of pine wood in this paper. HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 38) catalyst was evaluated for catalytic cracking. The distributions of liquid and gaseous products at the pyrolysis temperatures of 400–600 °C and the catalytic cracking temperatures of 450–650 °C were determined. The results showed that HZSM-5 catalyst, at a catalytic temperature of 650 °C, was suitable for converting pine wood to phenols, aromatics and gaseous hydrocarbons. The phenols and aromatics increased from 6% (peak area) for non-catalytic pyrolysis to 41%. The decrease in oxygen content of bio-oil and the increase in alkenes and alkanes of gaseous products are desirable for the pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of biomass.