The combined process of pyrolysis and catalytic conversion from rice straw toward light olefin hydrocarbon with supported metal catalyst

Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, West Jawa, Indonesia

^* Coresponding author: setiadi@che.ui.ac.id

Abstract

Light olefins are one of the most common petrochemical raw materials produced using non-renewable natural resources. Nowadays, lignocellulosic biomass is a promising source of feedstock ingredients for the production of olefins by pyrolysis. This study, the process is developed by a combination of pyrolysis and catalytic cracking processes with operating temperature around 500°C and N₂ flow rate around 150 ml/min. The supported metal catalyst namely La/Al₂O₃ and Zn/Al₂O₃ made with the impregnation method are used as catalysts. The catalytic pyrolysis process was carried out in a fixed bed turbular reactor with electric furnace as the heat source. To comprehend the catalytic cracking with catalyst, the experiment was also performed in condition without catalyst so that it could be compared to pyrolysis process itself. The The output of pyrolysis is condensed by using cold absorption trap with aceton. FT-IR (Fourier Transform - Infrared) and GC-TCD (Gas Chromatography-Thermal Conductivity Detector) serve as analytical instrument in order to identify the presence and the quantity of light olefins group in bio-oil and bio-gas. In this method, there are several variations to be determine, there are type of catalyst and catalyst composition (1%, 5%, and 10%).