Hydrogenation of Pyrolysis Oil from Loblolly Pine Residue

Loblolly pine residue prepared with and without zeolite ZSM-5 was pyrolyzed at 600℃ and the pyrolysis oil was hydrogenated using formic acid as a hydrogen source, in the presence of a Ru/activated carbon catalyst. As indicated by the pyrolysis yield, addition of the zeolite ZSM-5 increased the yield of light oil but decreased the yield of heavy oil. The pyrolysis oils were analyzed by ¹³C-, ³¹P-, ¹⁹F-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and heteronuclear single quantum coherence or heteronuclear single quantum correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC-NMR), demonstrating that the zeolite ZSM-5 can efficiently induce decarboxylation reactions and decrease the content of aliphatic hydroxyl groups in the heavy oil by 57%. After hydrogenation of the pyrolysis oil, the aromatic carbon content decreased by 78%, with a significant increase in the aliphatic carbon content.