Appraisal of agroforestry biomass wastes for hydrogen production by an integrated process of fast pyrolysis and in line steam reforming

The pyrolysis and in line steam reforming of different types of representative agroforestry biomass wastes (pine wood, citrus wastes and rice husk) was performed in a two-reactor system made up of a conical spouted bed and a fluidized bed. The pyrolysis step was carried out at 500 °C, and the steam reforming at 600 °C with a space time of 20 gcatalyst min gvolatiles-1 and a steam/biomass ratio (S/B) of 4. A study was conducted on the effect that the pyrolysis volatiles composition obtained with several biomasses has on the reforming conversion, product yields and H2 production. The different composition of the pyrolysis volatiles obtained with the three biomasses studied led to differences in the initial activity and, especially, in the catalyst deactivation rate. Initial conversions higher than 99% were obtained in all cases and the H2 production obtained varied in the 6.7-11.2 wt% range, depending on the feedstock used. The stability of the catalysts decreased depending on the feedstock as follows: pine wood ≫ citrus waste > rice husk. A detailed assessment of the mechanisms of catalyst deactivation revealed that coke deposition is the main cause of catalyst decay in all the runs. However, the volatile composition derived from the pyrolysis of citrus waste and rice husk involved the formation of an encapsulating coke, which severely blocked the catalyst pores, leading to catalyst deactivation during the first minutes of reaction.

Phosphorus adsorption using chemical and metal chloride activated biochars: Isotherms, kinetics and mechanism study

Efficient treatment of nutrient-rich wastewater is of paramount importance for protecting the ecosystem. In this work, an efficient, abundant, and eco-friendly adsorbent was derived from biochar and employed for phosphorus (P) adsorption. The key factors influencing the P removal efficiency of the activated biochar, including P concentration, pH, dosage, temperature, adsorption time, and influence of co-existing ion type, were investigated. Maximum P adsorption percentage (100%) was obtained with 10 mg/L and zinc chloride activated biochar (BC-Zn) compared to the other activated biochars. Results show that by increasing the P concentration from 5 to 200 mg/L, the phosphorus adsorption capacity increases from 0.13 to 10.4 mg/g biochar. Isotherms and kinetic studies further show that the P adsorption follows the Langmuir and quasi-second-order kinetic models. The mechanistic investigation demonstrated that P adsorption occurred by precipitation reaction. Furthermore, P desorption has been studied at different time intervals to understand the P release rate after adsorption.

Influence of iron-containing petrochemical sludge ash on the pyrolysis of pine wood: Thermal behaviors, thermodynamic analysis, and kinetic parameters

The pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of pine wood (PW) with the presence of iron-containing petrochemical sludge ash (PSA) were studied using thermogravimetric analysis at non-isothermal conditions. The thermal conversion of PW with the presence of PSA could be characterized via a three-stage reaction, including the moisture release, pyrolysis reactions and gas-solid reaction, and solid-solid reaction between char and iron oxides. The pyrolysis characteristic parameters analysis showed that the presence of PSA indeed promoted the conversion of PW. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the Fe₂O₃ in PSA was characterized by a gradual loss of oxygen during co-pyrolysis. The kinetic parameters were calculated by the Starink method combined with master-plots method. The presence of PSA would decrease the activation energy, and the minimum average value was 167.00 kJ/mol at 15% PSA addition. The most suitable kinetic models for the pyrolysis of PW and its mixtures with PSA were D₃ and D₄, respectively.

Combustion characteristics and retention-emission of selenium during co-firing of torrefied biomass and its blends with high ash coal

The combustion characteristics, kinetic analysis and selenium retention-emission behavior during co-combustion of high ash coal (HAC) with pine wood (PW) biomass and torrefied pine wood (TPW) were investigated through a combination of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and laboratory-based circulating fluidized bed combustion experiment. Improved ignition behavior and thermal reactivity of HAC were observed through the addition of a suitable proportion of biomass and torrefied. During combustion of blends, higher values of relative enrichment factors in fly ash revealed the maximum content of condensing volatile selenium on fly ash particles, and depleted level in bottom ash. Selenium emission in blends decreased by the increasing ratio of both PW and TPW. Higher reductions in the total Se volatilization were found for HAC/TPW than individual HAC sample, recommending that TPW have the best potential of selenium retention. The interaction amongst selenium and fly ash particles may cause the retention of selenium.

Effect of torrefaction pretreatment and catalytic pyrolysis on the pyrolysis poly-generation of pine wood

Torrefaction of pine wood was performed in a tube furnace at three temperatures (220, 250, and 280°C) for 30min. Then catalytic pyrolysis of raw and torrefied pine wood was performed using HZSM-5 catalyst in a fixed-bed pyrolysis reactor at 550°C for 15min. Torrefaction pretreatment and catalytic pyrolysis have an very important effect on the yield, property, and energy distribution of pyrolysis products. The results showed that the yield of biochar rapidly increased, while that of bio-oil decreased with increasing torrefaction temperature. The oxy-compound content of bio-oil, such as acids and aldehydes, sharply decreased. However, the aromatic hydrocarbon content not only increased but also further promoted by HZSM-5 catalyst. With highest mass yields and energy yields, biochar was also the very important product of pyrolysis. The oxygen content in biomass was mainly removed in the form of CO2 and H2O, leading to increasing CO2 content in non-condensable gas.

Chemical alterations of pine wood saccharides during heat sterilisation

Alterations in saccharides during heat sterilisation of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) were investigated. The mass loss, extractives, lignin, cellulose, holocellulose and hemicelluloses were determined. Changes in saccharides were evaluated by the determination of monosaccharides in wood, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) as well as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. During heat sterilisation of pine wood the slight mass loss, an increase in extractives and a decrease in lignin and polysaccharides were observed. Hemicelluloses are degraded approximately twice as fast as cellulose. The degree of polymerisation of cellulose decreases approximately by 10% and it increases in holocellulose (by approx. 8%) as a result of a faster degradation of shorter hemicellulose chains. FTIR spectroscopy shows that sterilisation results in the deacetylation of cellulose and the formation of new carbonyl groups, an increase in the total crystallinity index (TCI) and a decrease in the lateral order index (LOI) and the hydrogen-bond intensity (HBI).

A comparative investigation into the formation behaviors of char, liquids and gases during pyrolysis of pinewood and lignocellulosic components

The pyrolysis characteristics of xylan, cellulose, ADF (a mixture of cellulose and lignin extracted from pine wood) and pine wood were investigated in a fixed-bed reactor by determining the distributions of three-phase products, the elemental compositions of char products, the conversions of components and the profiles of gas release rate during pyrolysis as well as the compositions of liquid products. Interactions were found to occur between the different components. Lignin accelerated the release of CO2 and CO from cellulose and intensified the decomposition of cellulose to smaller molecular weight liquid compounds. Pine wood exhibited the componential interactions, resulting in the broadened temperature range of mass loss, the enhanced yield of char, and the increased heterogeneity of char. Pine wood produced more bio-oil than each component sample, with the compositional formula of CH1.07O0.31. The formation of liquid compounds from pine wood was also observed to be influenced by the componential interactions.

Comparative study on two-step concentrated acid hydrolysis for the extraction of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass

Among all the feasible thermochemical conversion processes, concentrated acid hydrolysis has been applied to break the crystalline structure of cellulose efficiently and scale up for mass production as lignocellulosic biomass fractionation process. Process conditions are optimized by investigating the effect of decrystallization sulfuric acid concentration (65-80 wt%), hydrolysis temperature (80°C and 100°C), hydrolysis reaction time (during two hours), and biomass species (oak wood, pine wood, and empty fruit bunch (EFB) of palm oil) toward sugar recovery. At the optimum process condition, 78-96% sugars out of theoretically extractable sugars have been fractionated by concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis of the three different biomass species with 87-90 g/L sugar concentration in the hydrolyzate and highest recalcitrance of pine (softwood) was determined by the correlation of crystallinity index and sugar yield considering reaction severity.

Thermal decomposition of lignocellulosic biomass in the presence of acid catalysts

Transformation of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels involves multiple processes, in which thermal decomposition, hydrotreatment are the most central steps. Current work focuses on the impact of several solid acids and Keggin-type heteropolyacids on the decomposition temperature (Td) of pine wood and the characterization of the resulted products. It has been observed that a mechanical mixture of solid acids with pine wood has no influence on Td, while the use of heteropolyacids lower the Td by 100°C. Moreover, the treatment of biomass with a catalytic amount of H3PW12O40 leads to formation of three fractions: solid, liquid and gas, which have been investigated by elemental analysis, TGA, FTIR, GC-MS and NMR. The use of heteropolyacid leads, at 300°C, to a selective transformation of more than 50 wt.% of the holocellulose part of the lignocellulosic biomass. Moreover, 60 wt.% of the catalyst H3PW12O40 are recovered.