Hydrogen-Rich Gas Production from Two-Stage Catalytic Pyrolysis of Pine Sawdust with Calcined Dolomite

The potential of catalytic pyrolysis of biomass for hydrogen and bio-oil production has drawn great attention due to the concern of clean energy utilization and decarbonization. In this paper, the catalytic pyrolysis of pine sawdust with calcined dolomite was carried out in a novel moving bed reactor with a two-stage screw feeder. The effects of pyrolysis temperature (700–900 °C) and catalytic temperature (500–800 °C) on pyrolysis performance were investigated in product distribution, gas composition, and gas properties. The results showed that with the temperature increased, pyrolysis gas yield increased, but the yield of solid and liquid products decreased. With the increase in temperature, the CO and H2 content increased significantly, while the CO2 and CH4 decreased correspondingly. The calcined dolomite can remove the tar by 44% and increased syngas yield by 52.9%. With the increasing catalytic temperature, the catalytic effect of calcined dolomite was also enhanced.

Date Palm Tree Waste Recycling: Treatment and Processing for Potential Engineering Applications

Date palm, the most important tree in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, produces a huge amount of waste yearly in the form of fibrous materials, dried fruits, and seeds. Such waste is a great source of excellent degradable biomass that can be used in numerous applications as natural fiber composites, active carbon precursors, and even nano-featured sheets. That rich resource is yearly burned on date palm farms due to the lack of effective processing strategies. This review offers a scientific evaluation for date palm waste in terms of specifications and applications, and it proposes pre-treatment processes to produce fibrous and powder raw materials to be used in some engineering and industrial applications. Additionally, some possible advanced industrial applications, such as active carbon and natural fiber composites, will be discussed and reviewed.