Catalytic Cracking of Synthetic Bio-Oil: Kinetic Studies

Kinetic study on the transformation of model compounds of bio-oil into less oxygenated liquid product was performed. A fixed bed continuous reactor was used for the catalytic cracking of bio-oil model compounds at the temperatures of 300°C, 400°C and 500°C under atmospheric pressure. HZSM-5 was used as the catalyst with the oil to catalyst ratio of 15. The kinetic behavior of the catalytic cracking of bio-oil was represented by a 3-lumped model. The kinetic parameters were calculated using an error minimization approach based on least square method. The results indicated that rate of formation for both gaseous products as well as for liquid product (LP) increased when the temperature increased. The activation energy for liquid product was higher compared to that for gaseous product. The order of reaction was in a fraction form which implies the complex nature of the cracking reaction.