Valorization of Agro-Industrial Residues into Furfural via Catalytic Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a promising technology for converting biomass waste into bio-oil, a liquid product that can serve as feedstock for fuels and high-value chemicals. In this study, bio-oil was produced via catalytic pyrolysis of pear pulp waste, a byproduct from juice and jam manufacturing, using a fixed-bed reactor. Initial non-catalytic experiments were conducted under nitrogen and vacuum atmospheres at temperatures ranging from 300 to 450°C for 15 minutes to evaluate the effect of temperature on bio-oil yield. The resulting bio-oils were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify and quantify the chemical compounds. Based on the identified optimal temperature, catalytic pyrolysis experiments were conducted using mesoporous xCe/SBA-15 catalysts with x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2 Ce/Si molar ratios. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET surface area analysis, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and TGA. Among them, the 0.1Ce/SBA-15 catalyst demonstrated the highest activity for furfural production, achieving 15% selectivity and a relative area of 48%. Furfural is a valuable platform chemical used in the synthesis of bioplastics and as a precursor for herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides.