In situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignin over biochar and activated carbon derived from the identical process

In this study, a sustainable in situ catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of lignin was developed by using biochar and activated carbon (AC) as catalysts, which is derived from the same CFP of lignin process. The results showed that using biochar as the catalyst mainly promoted the production of non-condensable gas, water, and guaiacol-rich oil regardless of the biochar-to-lignin ratio. The catalytic effect of the biochar was mainly attributed to the surface sodium and alkali metals. Using AC44.7% and AC48.6% as the catalyst resulted in a high yield of guaiacol-rich oil, whereas using AC64.3% induced a great decrease of the tarry oil yield and a significant increase of the phenol concentration in bio-oil. The diffusion efficiency of the reactive intermediates inside the catalysts determined by the pore size was believed to be the greatest determinant of the catalytic performance of the ACs. The mesopores were large enough to allow most of the reactive intermediates to diffuse quickly and react. Moreover, by using the same catalyst, char agglomeration was almost completely suppressed after in situ CFP. Two major problems, tar production and char agglomeration, which limit the large-scale application of fast lignin pyrolysis are believed to be solved.