[Murakami* 7(4): April, 2020] ISSN 2349-4506 Impact Factor: 3.799 Global Journal of Engineering Science and Research Management http: // www.gjesrm.com © Global Journal of Engineering Science and Research Management [42] DISSOLUTION OF SOLVENT-EXTRACTED RICE STRAW IN KEROSENE BY CATALYTIC HYDROCRACKING Kenji Murakami*, Shin Kumagai, Takahiro Oga, Ayano Nakamura, and Katsuyasu Sugawara * Faculty of Engineering Science, Akita University, Akita City, Japan DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3753036 KEYWORDS: Rice straw, kerosene, catalytic hydrocracking, Y zeolite, noble metal. ABSTRACT In order to increase the solubility of solvent-extracted component from rice straw (RS Soluble) in kerosene, the RS Soluble was hydrocracked in an autoclave at 200 and 350°C in a cyclohexane solvent using 5 wt% platinum- , palladium- or rhodium-loaded Y zeolite catalysts (5PtY, 5PdY or 5RhY). A NH3-TPD (temperature- programmed desorption) revealed that 5PtY had almost the same acid property (acidity and the amount of acid sites) as the HY zeolite. The kerosene-soluble yield for the untreated RS Soluble was only about 20 wt%. The yield of kerosene-soluble components produced by the hydrocracking of RS Soluble at 200°C increased to 34-45 wt% with or without catalyst. The maximum yield of kerosene-soluble components produced by the hydrocracking of RS Soluble at 350°C was 61 wt%, which was achieved using 5PtY. INTRODUCTION In order to prevent global warming, the development of a liquid fuel alternative to petroleum is an urgent issue. Biomass, a renewable energy, has a potential to replace petroleum. It is well known that pyrolysis of biomass at 450-550°C at a heating rate of 10 3 -10 4 K / s produces bio-oil [1]. However, the calorific value of bio-oil is as low as 16-19 MJ / kg because the oxygen content in bio-oil is quite high (35-40 wt%) [2]. Therefore, deoxygenation is necessary to upgrade bio-oil [3]. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and zeolite cracking are known as deoxygenation methods [4-8], but at present it cannot be said that a high-quality liquid fuel is obtained in high yield. The authors focused on the solvent extraction method developed by Miura group [9-12]. This is a method of upgrading by successfully removing oxygen from low-rank coal and biomass. When low-rank coal or biomass is placed in an autoclave together with 1-methylnaphthalene (MN) solvent and the mixture is stirred at 350°C for 60 min in a nitrogen atmosphere, three products with different solubilities in the solvent are obtained: (1) MN- insoluble component at 350°C (Residue), (2) MN-insoluble component at room temperature (Deposit), and (3) MN-soluble component at room temperature (Soluble). The third component, Soluble, can be recovered as a solid by removing the MN solvent. For example, from a rice straw with a carbon content of 42.5 wt% (dry ash free) and a calorific value of 14.7 MJ / kg (daf), Soluble with a carbon content of 84.7 wt% (daf) and a calorific value of 37.6 MJ / kg (daf) was extracted with a yield of 20.7 wt% (daf) [12]. In this study, we attempt to dissolve Soluble extracted from rice straw (hereafter referred to as RS Soluble) in kerosene. Kerosene is a mixture of C10- C16 alkanes (molecular weight: approximately 140-230) and can dissolve not only alkanes but also benzene, naphthalene and their derivatives. On the other hand, previous studies have shown that there are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons containing three rings in the structure of RS Soluble and the molecular weight of RS Soluble is approximately 500 [11, 12]. That is, in order to dissolve the RS Soluble in kerosene, the RS Soluble must be hydrocracked. Sano et al. reported that the hydrogenation conversion of benzene decreased significantly with increasing in the SiO2 / Al2O3 ratio of HZSM-5 zeolite [13]. This was considered to be due to the decrease in the amount of Bronsted acid with the increase in the SiO2 / Al2O3 ratio. Arora et al. used Beta zeolite to hydrogenate benzene and naphthalene [14]. As a result, they reported that benzene was converted to cyclohexene and methylcyclopentane, and naphthalene was converted to tetralin and 1-propenylbenzene. This result indicates that the zeolite has functions of cleaving covalent bonds as well as hydrogenating aromatic rings. Wang et al. reported that the hydrogenation conversion of benzene and selectivity of cyclohexane increased with increasing amount of Pt as a result of hydrogenation of benzene using Y zeolite catalysts with various Pt loadings [15]. Similarly, it has been reported that the use of bifunctional catalyst such as Pd-Pt / Y zeolite [16], Ru / Y zeolite [17], MoC / Y zeolite [18], Pt / Y zeolite [19], and Ni-W / Beta zeolite [20], which combines a zeolite (ability to cleave covalent bonds)