Improving the conversion of biomass in catalytic fast pyrolysis via white-rot fungal pretreatment

► White-rot fungal pretreatment enhances corn stover conversion in fast pyrolysis. ► Fungal pretreatment increases the aromatic production in catalytic fast pyrolysis. ► Fungal pretreatment decreases the coke formation in catalytic fast pyrolysis. This study investigated the effect of white-rot fungal pretreatment on corn stover conversion in catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP). Corn stover pretreated by white-rot fungus Irpex lacteus CD2 was fast pyrolyzed alone (non-CFP) and with ZSM-5 zeolite (CFP) in a semi-batch pyroprobe reactor. The fungal pretreatment considerably increased the volatile product yields (predominantly oxygenated compounds) in non-CFP, indicating that fungal pretreatment enhances the corn stover conversion in fast pyrolysis. In the presence of ZSM-5 zeolite, these oxygenated volatiles were further catalytically converted to aromatic hydrocarbons, whose yield increased from 10.03wt.% for the untreated corn stover to 11.49wt.% for the pretreated sample. In contrast, the coke yield decreased from 14.29 to 11.93wt.% in CFP following the fungal pretreatment. These results indicate that fungal pretreatment can enhance the production of valuable aromatics and decrease the amount of undesired coke, and thus has a beneficial effect on biomass conversion in CFP.