Catalytic pyrolysis of biodiesel surrogate over HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst

To obtain insight into the catalytic reaction mechanism of biodiesels over ZSM-5 zeolites, the pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis of methyl butanoate, a biodiesel surrogate, with H-type ZSM-5 (HZSM-5) were performed in a flow re-actor under atmospheric pressure. The pyrolysis products were identified and quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Kinetic modelling and experimental results revealed that H-atom abstraction in the gas phase was the primary pathway for methyl butanoate decomposition during pyrolysis, but dissociating to ketene and methanol over HZSM-5 was the primary pathway for methyl butanoate consumption during catalytic pyrolysis. The initial decomposition temperature of methyl butanoate was reduced by approximately 300 K over HZSM-5 compared to that for the uncatalyzed reaction. In addition, the apparent activation energies of methyl butanoate under catalytic pyrolysis and homogeneous pyrolysis conditions were obtained using the Arrhenius equation. The significantly reduced apparent activation energy confirmed the catalytic performance of HZSM-5 for methyl butanoate pyrolysis. The activation temperature may also affect some catalytic properties of HZSM-5. Overall, this study can be used to guide subsequent catalytic combustion for practical biodiesel fuels.