Valorization of furniture industry-processed residue via catalytic pyrolysis with methane

An increase in furniture industry processed residue and its release to the environment can cause serious environmental and health problems. In this study, the catalytic pyrolysis of furniture industry processed residue, as an emerging solution for its treatment, was performed over different zeolite catalysts, such as HZSM-5(silica/alumina = 30), HZSM-5(80), HY(30), and HBeta(38) using a lab-scale reactor. The effects of the nitrogen, methane_, and methane decomposition environments were also evaluated. Non-catalytic pyrolysis under a methane decomposition gas (a simulated hydropyrolysis condition) resulted in a more than two-fold higher yield of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene than under the nitrogen and methane environments. For catalytic pyrolysis in methane, HZSM-5(30) showed the maximum affinity towards the production of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene compared to other zeolites owing to its higher acidity, lower coke generation, and enhanced shape selectivity. HBeta and HY showed lower yield of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene than HZSM-5(30) because of their large pore size, causing more coke formation. The methane-decomposition environment promoted dehydroaromatization, co-aromatization, direct coupling, and Diels-Alder reactions, further increasing the yield of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene over HZSM-5(30). It is suggested that catalytic pyrolysis of furniture industry processed residue over HZSM-5 under methane decomposition gas would be an eco-friendly and sustainable strategy that not only tackles its disposal challenges but also produces valuable aromatics for fuel applications.