(2021) Bioresource Technology_Comparative study on carbon dioxide-cofed catalytic pyrolysis of grass and woody biomass

Kim J.-H., Jung S., Lin K.-Y.A., Rinklebe J., Kwon E.E.

(Elsevier Ltd) Bioresource Technology ISSN: 9608524 Vol.323 Issue. Article No.124633 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124633

This study investigated the mechanistic functions of CO₂ on the pyrolysis of two different biomasses to elucidate the effect of CO₂ on syngas formations during pyrolysis. To this end, CO₂-assisted pyrolysis of cellulosic biomass (barnyard grass, Echinochloa) and lignin-rich woody biomass (retinispora, Chamaecyparis obtusa) were compared. The confirmed mechanistic effectiveness of CO₂ on pyrolysis of biomass was gas phase reactions between CO₂ and volatile matters from biomass pyrolysis. Lignin-rich biomass had more CO₂ susceptibility, resulting in more enhanced CO formation via the gas phase reactions. To expedite the slow reaction rate of the gas phase reactions during biomass pyrolysis, earth-abundant catalysts (Co/SiO₂ and Ni/SiO₂) were employed for pyrolysis of two biomass substrates. With Co and Ni catalysts, the syngas formations were 2 and 3 times higher comparing to the pyrolysis of without catalyst. The cumulative formations of syngas from lignin-rich biomass was nearly doubled than that from cellulosic biomass. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea ( NRF ) grant funded by the Korea Government ( MSIT ) (No. NRF-2019R1A4A1027795 and NRF-2019H1D3A1A01070644 ).