Catalyre conversion of cotton-seed cake over natural zeolite catalyst and investigation of steam effect

In this thesis, the catalytic conversion of cotton seed cake to fuels was studied at varying process conditions. In the first part, pyrolysis experiments were carried out with a heating rate of 7 °C/min at 400, 500, 550, 700° C temperatures and different natural zeolite contents (1, 5, 10, 20 % of feed) in a Heinze reactor. In the second part, the effect of steam was investigated by co- feeding steam at different flow rates ( 0,6; 1,3; 2,7 cm/sec) with a catalyst addition (20 % of feed). In the third part, the effect of sweeping gas (N2) at different flow rates (50, 100, 200, 400 cm3/min), 550 °C was observed with addition of the same amount of catalyst in the second part. Liquid pyrolysis products obtained at most appropriate conditions were examined using elemental analysis technique and FTIR. By using column chromatography on liquid product, the yield of subfractions were calculated. The H/C ratios obtained from elemental analysis were compared with the petroleum products. FTIR spectra of subfractions were taken, whereas n-pentane was analysed by gas chromatography. According to results obtained, it is found that petroleum like liquid pyrolysis products can be obtained from cotton seed cake by selecting suitable pyrolysis conditions. Keywords : Cotton-seed cake, catallytic pyrolysis, synthetic fuels