High Quality Bio-Oil Obtained from Catalyzed Pyrolysis of Olive Mill Solid Wastes in a Bi-Functional Reactor

Abstract

Olive Mill Solid Wastes (OMSW) released in nature without any treatment is a major environmental problem in the Mediterranean region. In this work, the catalyzed pyrolysis of OMSW has been investigated. A catalyst based on SBA-15 mesoporous silica doped with chromium ferrite nanoparticles was prepared by the double solvent technique (DS). The prepared catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Wide and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS, SAXS), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and FT-IR spectroscopies. Reverse spinel chromium ferrite nanoparticles were located inside the SBA-15 pores as confirmed by SEM images. The obtained catalyst was tested for pyrolysis reactions of OMSW. Several parameters were studied to optimize the conditions of the pyrolysis reaction in order to increase the bio-oil conversion yield. The GC-MS results demonstrated that the quality of the obtained bio-oil was improved by decreasing the quantity of phenolic and oxygenated components as well as the size of the obtained molecules. The produced bio-oil from pyrolysis of OMSW is identical to that obtained from the pyrolysis of commercial cellulose under the same conditions. A 37% conversion yield of bio-oil was obtained for the best conditions.