Study on furfural conversion into aromatics over Zn/HZSM-5 and Fe/HZSM-5 catalysts

Abstract

ZSM-5 zeolite material (Si/Al ratio = 25) was synthesized with silica source of TEOS and TPAOH template. The zeolite is modified into proton form (HZSM-5) with 343 m²/g of BET surface area, 324 m²/g of micropore area, 0.1491 cm³/g of micropore volume and 5.77 nm of BJH adsorption average pore width. Zinc oxide and iron oxide are dispersed onto HZSM-5 catalyst surface with different contents by wet impregnation method. The results of HZSM-5, Zn/HZSM- 5, Fe/HZSM-5 catalyst materials still retain the micropore structure of ZSM-5 zeolite. These materials are used as catalysts for furfural pyrolysis in the inert atmosphere (N2) with the temperatures ranged from 400 to 700 °C. The conversion of furfural to aromatic hydrocarbons on catalysts is evaluated by furfural conversion, conversion into aromatics and aromatic hydrocarbons selectivity. Result shows that 3 %Zn/HZSM-5 and 2 %Fe/HZSM-5 catalyst favor for furfural pyrolysis at 600 °C. The furfural conversion, the conversion into BTXN and the BTXN selectivity are respectively 48.36 %, 21.18 %, 16.18 % with 3 %Zn/HZSM-5 catalyst and 64.41 %, 16.47 %, 26.81 % with 2%Fe/HZSM-5 catalyst. These results are the basic research for the upgrade of pyrolysis oil into fuels.