Catalytic Pyrolysis of Corn Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles to Produce Hydrocarbons

This paper explores dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) from corn ethanol production as a potential feedstock for production of hydrocarbons from catalytic pyrolysis. We found substantially higher yield of aromatics and olefins from DDGS compared with lignocelluosic biomass for pyrolysis over HZSM-5. Experiments on individual components of DDGS showed that protein and lipid account for these enhanced yields. We also found that lipids had a positive synergistic effect with other components in the DDGS, enhancing the yield of aromatics. Product distributions for HZSM-5 catalysts with different SiO2/Al2O3 ratios were evaluated. The highest carbon yields of aromatics and olefins (44.5% and 12.3%, respectively) occurred for a SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 30 for in-situ catalytic pyrolysis at 600 degrees C. Ex-situ catalytic pyrolysis using the same HZSM-5 catalyst produced lower overall yields of hydrocarbons, but the relative yields of aromatics and olefins were reversed (17.6% and 24.5%, respectively) compared to in-situ catalytic pyrolysis.