(200f) Catalytic Fast Hydropyrolysis of Beetle Killed Trees- Pine (pinus taeda), Ash(fraxinus) and Redbay (persea borbonia) for the Production of Transportation Biofuel

Tree-killing insects are responsible for large-scale deforestation across North America. For instance, Emerald ash borers are responsible for infesting and killing several ash trees especially in Louisiana and the East Texas region and this beetle infested trees becomes a threat to public safety when they fall off. However, these trees can be converted into useful products such as biofuels.

This study investigates the potential of using beetle-killed trees as feedstocks for biofuel production via thermochemical processes called pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis. We report the effects of varying catalysts and reaction conditions on product yield. We observed that non-catalytic fast pyrolysis produced mainly oxygenated compounds, however, upgrading to catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) using HZSM-5 promotes deoxygenation reactions, turning oxygenated volatiles into hydrocarbon fuels, mainly aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and xylene (abbreviated BTX).

We evaluated the influence of catalyst/biomass ratio of 20:1 which is an optimum ratio at temperature of 600^oC, on the pyrolysis product yield and compared the results obtained for the different feedstocks. Our results show a good yield of benzene, toluene, and xylene for the different biomass under study, with pine producing the highest hydrocarbon yield of 76% based on percentage area.

We will report results for catalytic hydropyrolysis (CHP) of these beetle-killed trees using HZSM-5, NiMo/HZSM-5 and NiRe/HZSM-5, targeting high yields of hydrocarbons such as BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene), alkanes, and cycloalkanes, which are some of the major components of jet-fuels and are important raw materials for the petrochemical industry. The range of temperature of this study is 400-600⁰C,and the range of pressure is 20-40 bar.

Compared to catalytic fast pyrolysis(CFP), the hydrogen environment in catalytic hydropyrolysis (CHP) can potentially reducing coking, increase yields of aromatics and shift the product composition towards alkanes and cycloalkanes. It is expected that HZSM-5 catalyst should produce more BTX compounds, while the NiMo/HZSM-5 and NiRe/HZSM-5 catalyst produce alkanes and cycloalkanes. The optimum pressure and temperature for high product yield will be determined.

The utilization of beetle-killed trees as a feedstock for biofuel production also has environmental benefits, such as reducing waste wood in forests and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the use of beetle-killed trees for biofuel production and highlights the importance of exploring alternative feedstocks for sustainable transportation energy.