Abstract
Recovering renewable chemicals from de-fatted microalgal residue derived from lipid extraction within the algal-derived biofuel sector is crucial, given the rising significance of microalgal-derived biodiesel as a potential substitute for petroleum-based liquid fuels. As a circular economy strategy, effective valorization of de-fatted biomass significantly improves the energetic and economic facets of establishing a sustainable algal-derived biofuel industry. In this scenario, this study investigates flash catalytic pyrolysis as a sustainable pathway for valorizing Scenedesmus sp. post-extraction residue (SPR), potentially yielding a bio-oil enriched with upgraded characteristics, especially renewable aromatic hydrocarbons. In the scope of this study, volatile products from catalytic and non-catalytic flash pyrolysis were characterized using a micro-furnace type temperature programmable pyrolyzer coupled with gas chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry detection (Py–GC/MS). Flash pyrolysis of SPR resulted in volatile products with elevated oxygen and nitrogen compounds with concentrations of 46.4% and 26.4%, respectively. In contrast, flash pyrolysis of lyophilized microalgal biomass resulted in lower concentrations of these compounds, with 40.9% oxygen and 17.3% nitrogen. Upgrading volatile pyrolysis products from SPR led to volatile products comprised of only hydrocarbons, while completely removing oxygen and nitrogen-containing compounds. This was achieved by utilizing a low-cost HZSM-5 catalyst within a catalytic bed at 500 °C. Catalytic experiments also indicate the potential conversion of SPR into a bio-oil rich in monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, primarily BETX, with toluene comprising over one-third of its composition, thus presenting a sustainable pathway for producing an aromatic hydrocarbon-rich bio-oil derived from SPR. Another significant finding was that 97.8% of the hydrocarbon fraction fell within the gasoline range (C5–C12), and 35.5% fell within the jet fuel range (C8–C16). Thus, flash catalytic pyrolysis of SPR exhibits significant promise for application in drop-in biofuel production, including green gasoline and bio-jet fuel, aligning with the principles of the circular economy, green chemistry, and bio-refinery.
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The datasets utilized and/or analyzed in the current study can be made available by the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.
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The authors express their gratitude to LabTam − UFRN and LNA − EAJ − UFRN for the infrastructure made available to support the development of this study. The authors also acknowledge financial support from PETROBRAS and Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil Process 307433/2020–0).
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Julio de Andrade Oliveira Marques: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, visualization, data curation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft. José Luiz Francisco Alves: formal analysis, investigation, visualization, and writing—original draft. Gislane Pinho de Oliveira: formal analysis and investigation. Dulce Maria de Araújo Melo: resources. Graco Aurelio Camara de Melo Viana: funding acquisition. Renata Martins Braga: conceptualization, visualization, supervision, investigation, resources, writing—review and editing, and project administration.
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Marques, J.d., Alves, J.L.F., de Oliveira, G.P. et al. Catalytic flash pyrolysis of Scenedesmus sp. post-extraction residue using low-cost HZSM-5 catalyst with the perspective to produce renewable aromatic hydrocarbons. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 18785–18796 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32336-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32336-8