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The impact of catalyst acidity on the selectivity of upgraded biomass pyrolysis products was studied by passing pine pyrolysis vapors over five ZSM-5 catalysts of varying acidity at 500 °C. The SiO2-to-Al2O3 ratio (SAR) of the ZSM-5 zeolite was varied from 23 to 280 to control the acidity of the catalyst and the composition of upgraded products. The upgraded product stream was analyzed by GCMS. Additionally, catalysts were characterized using temperature programmed desorption, diffuse-reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, N2 physisorption, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the biomass pyrolysis vapors were highly deoxygenated to form a slate of aromatic hydrocarbons over all of the tested ZSM-5 catalysts. As the overall acidity of the ZSM-5 increased the selectivity toward alkylated (substituted) aromatics (e.g., xylene, dimethyl-naphthalene, and methyl-anthracene) decreased while the selectivity toward unsubstituted aromatics (e.g., benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene) increased. Additionally, the selectivity toward polycyclic aromatic compounds (2-ring and 3-ring) increased as catalyst acidity increased, corresponding to a decrease in acid site spacing. The increased selectivity toward less substituted polycyclic aromatic compounds with increasing acidity is related to the relative rates of cyclization and alkylation reactions within the zeolite structure. As the acid site concentration increases and sites become closer to each other, the formation of additional cyclization products occurs at a greater rate than alkylated products. The ability to adjust product selectivity within 1-, 2-, and 3-ring aromatic families, as well as the degree of substitution, by varying ZSM-5 acidity could have significant benefits in terms creating a slate of upgraded biomass pyrolysis products to meet specific target market demands.

The research activities on biofuels and bio-products have been growing steadily regardless the volatility of the crude oil price in the past decade. The major driver is the imperative need of tackling the challenge of climate change. With the low carbon footprints, fuels and chemicals produced from renewable biomass resources, as the replacement of their petroleum counterparts, can contribute significantly on carbon emission reduction.