Technological Offer
Thermocatalytic valorisation of organic residues
Description
A variety of facilities are offered for studies on thermal and catalytic pyrolysis, through commercial and/or research cooperation agreements. The raw materials to be studied include organic waste of various kinds (lignocellulosic biomass, organic fraction of municipal solid waste, plastics, textiles, etc.).
Different experimental setups are available, from laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactors operating in batches (5-20 g) or with continuous feeding (1-3 g/h), to a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor (1-2 kg/h). These facilities can operate with or without catalysts, with both in-situ and ex-situ reaction configurations, and controlled gaseous atmospheres.
Regarding the catalysts, IMDEA Energy develops its own catalytic materials (e.g. zeolites) with different acid-base and textural properties, and even modified with additional active phases.
In addition, a variety of analytical techniques and procedures have been optimized and even created to ensure complete monitoring of the tests in terms of product performance and properties. To do this, all fractions resulting from the reaction are collected and analyzed: gas, liquid (oil), solid (char) and, in the case of catalytic pyrolysis tests, spent catalyst.
Advantages and Innovations
Our pyrolysis units provide highly controlled experimental conditions and allow the evaluation of a wide range of organic materials as feedstock. The working procedures and the analytical techniques available and optimized allow to close mass balances and determine the products composition with high precision.
The great versatility regarding the nature of the waste feedstock (lignocellulosic, OFMSW, plastics, etc.), the operating modes (discontinuous or batch), reaction conditions (temperature, residence time, pressure, flow and composition of the carrier gas, etc.) and reaction time, makes our facilities especially suitable for analyzing and valorizing waste for commercial and research purposes.
Market Applications
• Evaluation of the thermochemical valorisation of residues by thermal/catalytic pyrolysis.
• Testing of catalytic materials for pyrolysis processes.
• Testing of catalytic materials for hydrotreatment of pyrolysis oils.
Contact
Félix Marín, felix.marin@imdea.org
