Natural minerals as potential catalysts for the pyrolysis of date kernels: effect of catalysts on products yield and bio-oil quality

ABSTRACT

An increasing attention is being paid for the production of bio-oil especially in the countries that suffer from the lack of energy resources such as Jordan. The aim of this study is to investigate the catalytic effect of Jordanian minerals on the pyrolysis of date kernels. Experiments are carried out in a lab-scale externally heated-tubular reactor. The experiments are conducted at a fixed catalyst-to-feed ratio at 5 wt%, heating rate of 100°C/min and a final temperature of 500°C. The study investigated the performance of the considered catalysts on pyrolytic product yields and bio-oil quality. Results showed that oil shale ash produced the highest bio-oil yield (44.0 wt%), and zeolitic tuff produced the highest gas yield (138.1 ml/g-feed). The investigated catalysts altered the chemical composition of bio-oil. The produced bio-oil when using the zeolitic tuff as a catalyst possessed the best properties in terms of acidity and stability.

KEYWORDS:

• Catalytic pyrolysis
• bio-oil
• diatomite
• tripoli
• zeolitic tuff
• oil shale ash
• phosphogypsym
• Jordan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rima A. Aljeradat

Eng. Rima A. Aljeradat is a chemical engineer working as a technical laboratory supervisor in the chemical engineering department of MU. Eng. Aljeradat holds a master degree with distinction in chemical engineering graduated from MU in 2021.

Salah H. Aljbour

Dr. Salah H. Aljbour is an associate professor of chemical engineering at MU. The research themes of Dr. Aljbour include Catalysis, Waste-to-Energy via Thermal and Biological routes. Dr. Aljbour completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Nagoya University / Japan in 2010. Prior joining the Chemical Engineering department at MU, Dr. Aljbour worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Institute for Environmental Studies /Tsukuba/Japan where he carried out reserach on biomass gasification and gas catalytic reforming.

Nabeel A. Jarrah

Dr. Nabeel A. Jarrah is a full professor of chemical engineering at MU. The research themes of Dr. Jarrah include Catalysis and Environmental Technology. Dr. Jarrah completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at University of Twente / The Netherlands in 2004.