Catalytic co-pyrolysis of corn stalk and polypropylene over Zn-Al modified MCM-41 catalysts for aromatic hydrocarbon-rich oil production

Abstract This paper investigates separate pyrolysis of corn stalk (CS) and polypropylene (PP) and co-pyrolysis of CS and PP over Zn-Al co-modified MCM-41 to produce aromatics. In the presence of catalysts, the product contents and composition were significantly influenced. Zn and Al showed a certain synergistic effect, under catalysis with 1 wt% Zn-3 wt% Al/MCM-41, and the maximum proportions of aromatics (24.31 %) and the minimum production of oxygenated compounds (12.37 %) were obtained. With Zn-Al co-modified MCM-41, the highest contents of benzene, toluene, xylene, trimethylbenzene, naphthalene, and indene were 1.33, 1.84, 2.31, 1.15, 1.20, and 1.08 times the output of MCM-41, respectively. The catalytic co-pyrolysis of CS and PP also showed a synergistic effect on the production of aromatic hydrocarbons compared with their individual catalytic pyrolysis and the chemical mechanism of that synergy was revealed. Additionally, this synergy ability was further confirmed by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and kinetic analysis.