Highly Efficient Synthesis of Clean Biofuels from Biomass Using FeCuZnAlK Catalyst

Highly efficient synthesis of clean biofuels using the bio-syngas obtained from biomass gasification was performed over Fe1.5Cu1Zn1Al1K0.117 catalyst. The maximum biofuel yield. from the bio-syngas reaches about 1.59 kg biofuels/(kg(catal.h)) with a contribution of 0.57 kg alcohols/(kg(catal.h)) and 1.02 kg liquid hydrocarbons/(kg(catal.h)). The alcohol products in the resulting biofuels were dominated by the C2(+) alcohols (mainly C2-C6 alcohols) with a content of 73.55%-89.98%. The selectivity of the liquid hydrocarbons (C5(+)) in the hydrocarbon products ranges from 60.37% to 70.94%. The synthesis biofuels also possess a higher heat value of 40.53-41.49 MJ/kg. The effects of the synthesis conditions, including temperature, pressure, and gas hourly space velocity, on the biofuel synthesis were investigated in detail. The catalyst features were characterized by inductively coupled plasma and atomic emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, temperature programmed reduction, and the N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms measurements. The present biofuel synthesis with a higher biofuel yield and a higher selectivity of liquid hydrocarbons and C2(+) alcohols may be a potentially useful route to produce clean biofuels and chemicals from biomass.