Rapid and catalytic pyrolysis of corn stalks

Non-catalytic and catalytic rapid pyrolysis of corn stalks was studied in a tubular fixed-bed reactor. The optimum operating conditions giving the highest liquid yield was determined as pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C, sweeping gas flow rate of 400 cm3 min− 1 and heating rate of 500 °C min− 1. In the catalytic process, rapid pyrolysis of stalks was performed at the optimum conditions with catalysts such as ZSM-5, HY and USY. The highest liquid yield from the catalytic pyrolysis was 27.55% with ZSM-5, while the oil from non-catalytic pyrolysis was 33.30%. In the last part, various spectroscopic and chromatographic methods were applied for characterization of bio-oils. Although catalytic pyrolysis converts the long chains of alkanes and alkenes of the oils into lower weight hydrocarbons, the obtained oil yields were lower than those of non-catalytic pyrolysis. USY catalyst gives the highest amount of aromatics among the catalysts used. Moreover, TG–DTA analyses were applied on raw materials to investigate thermal degradation of corn stalks and calculate the kinetic parameters.