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Producing sustainable anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) through catalytic graphitization of renewable biomass has gained significant attention. However, the technology is in its early stages due to the bio-graphite's comparatively low electrochemical performance in LIBs. This study aims to develop a process for producing LIB anode materials using a hybrid catalyst to enhance battery performance, along with readily available market biochar as the raw material. Results indicate that a trimetallic hybrid catalyst (Ni, Fe, and Mn in a 1:1:1 ratio) is superior to single or bimetallic catalysts in converting biochar to bio-graphite. The bio-graphite produced under this catalyst exhibits an 89.28% degree of graphitization and a 73.95% conversion rate. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals the dissolution–precipitation mechanism involved in catalytic graphitization. Electrochemical performance evaluation showed that the trimetallic hybrid catalyst yielded bio-graphite with better electrochemical performances than those obtained through single or bimetallic hybrid catalysts, including a good reversible capacity of about 293 mAh g−1 at a current density of 20 mA/g and a stable cycle performance with a capacity retention of over 98% after 100 cycles. This study proves the synergistic efficacy of different metals in catalytic graphitization, impacting both graphite crystalline structure and electrochemical performance., QC 20240229

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has become a critical environmental problem. Catalytic pyrolysis is an ideal technique to treat and convert the plastic fraction of WEEE into chemicals and fuels. Unfortunately, research using real WEEE remains relatively limited. Furthermore, the complexity of WEEE complicates the analysis of its pyrolytic kinetics. This study applied the Fraser-Suzuki mathematical deconvolution method to obtain the pseudo reactions of the thermal degradation of two types of WEEE, using four different catalysts (Al2O3, HBeta, HZSM-5, and TiO2) or without a catalyst. The main contributor(s) to each pseudo reaction were identified by comparing them with the pyrolysis results of the pure plastics in WEEE. The nth order model was then applied to estimate the kinetic parameters of the obtained pseudo reactions. In the low-grade electronics pyrolysis, the pseudo-1 reaction using TiO2 as a catalyst achieved the lowest activation energy of 92.10 kJ/mol, while the pseudo-2 reaction using HZSM-5 resulted in the lowest activation energy of 101.35 kJ/mol among the four catalytic cases. For medium-grade electronics, pseudo-3 and pseudo-4 were the main reactions for thermal degradation, with HZSM-5 and TiO2 yielding the lowest pyrolytic activation energies of 75.24 and 226.39 kJ/mol, respectively. This effort will play a crucial role in comprehending the pyrolysis kinetic mechanism of WEEE and propelling this technology toward a brighter future., QC 20240815

Ex situ catalytic pyrolysis of engineered waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was conducted in a two-stage reactor using HZSM-5 catalyst. The effect of the catalysis temperature and the catalyst-to-feedstock (C/F) ratio on products yield, gas and oil composition, and products characterization were investigated in this study. Results indicated that lower reforming temperature and C/F ratio favored organic fractions production. The highest yield of organic fraction was obtained at a catalysis temperature of 450 °C and at a C/F ratio of 0.15, corresponding to 28.5 and 27.4 wt %, respectively. The highest selectivity toward aromatic hydrocarbons and the lowest TAN value of the organic fraction were obtained at a catalysis temperature of 450 °C and a C/F ratio of 0.2, respectively. Most of the alkali and transition metals and 23 % of Br remained in the solid residue after the catalytic pyrolysis of low-grade electronic waste (LGEW)., QC 20240506

Feedstock properties play a crucial role in thermal conversion processes, where understanding the influence of these properties on treatment performance is essential for optimizing both feedstock selection and the overall process. In this study, a series of van Krevelen diagrams were generated to illustrate the impact of H/C and O/C ratios of feedstock on the products obtained from six commonly used thermal conversion techniques: torrefaction, hydrothermal carbonization, hydrothermal liquefaction, hydrothermal gasification, pyrolysis, and gasification. Machine learning methods were employed, utilizing data, methods, and results from corresponding studies in this field. Furthermore, the reliability of the constructed van Krevelen diagrams was analyzed to assess their dependability. The van Krevelen diagrams developed in this work systematically provide visual representations of the relationships between feedstock and products in thermal conversion processes, thereby aiding in optimizing the selection of feedstock and the choice of thermal conversion technique., QC 20231227

Biochar, originating from biomass pyrolysis, has been proven a promising catalyst for tar cracking/reforming with great coke resistance. This work aims to evaluate various engineered biochar-based catalysts on syngas production in a biomass pyrolysis and catalytic reforming process without feeding extra steam. The tested engineered biochar catalysts include physical- and chemical-activated, nitrogen-doped, and nickel-doped biochars. The results illustrated that the syngas yields were comparable when using biochar and activated biochar as catalysts. A relatively high specific surface area (SSA) and a hierarchical porous structure are beneficial for syngas and hydrogen production. A 2 h physical-activated biochar catalyst induced the syngas with the highest H2/CO ratio (1.5). The use of N-doped biochar decreased the syngas yield sharply due to the collapse of the pore structure but obtained syngas with the highest LHVgas (18.5MJ/Nm3). The use of Ni-doped biochar facilitated high syngas and hydrogen yields (78.2 wt % and 26 mmol H2/g-biomass) and improved gas energy conversion efficiency (73%). Its stability and durability test showed a slight decrease in performance after a three-time repetitive use. A future experiment with a longer time is suggested to determine when the catalyst will finally deactivate and how to reduce the catalyst deterioration., QC 20230705

This research work focuses on the practicality of using organic binders for the briquetting of pellet fines. The developed briquettes were evaluated in terms of mechanical strength and reduction behavior with hydrogen. A hydraulic compression testing machine and thermogravimetric analysis were incorporated into this work to investigate the mechanical strength and reduction behavior of the produced briquettes. Six organic binders, namely Kempel, lignin, starch, lignosulfonate, Alcotac CB6, and Alcotac FE14, in addition to sodium silicate, were tested for the briquetting of pellet fines. The highest mechanical strength was achieved using sodium silicate, Kempel, CB6, and lignosulfonate. The best combination of binder to attain the required mechanical strength even after 100% reduction was found to be a combination of 1.5 wt.% of organic binder (either CB6 or Kempel) with 0.5 wt.% of inorganic binder (sodium silicate). Upscaling using an extruder gave propitious results in the reduction behavior, as the produced briquettes were highly porous and attained pre-requisite mechanical strength., QC 20230626

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (CCS) in iron and steel production offers significant potential for CO2 emission reduction and may even result in carbon-negative steel. With a strong ambition to reach net-zero emissions, some countries, such as Sweden, have recently proposed measures to incentivise bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), which opens a window of opportunities to enable the production of carbon-negative steel. One of the main potential applications of this route is to decarbonise the iron reduction processes that account for 85 % of the total CO2 emission in the iron and steel plants. In this study, gasification is proposed to convert biomass into biosyngas to reduce iron ore directly. Different cases of integrating the biomass gasifier, Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) shaft furnace, and CCS are evaluated through process simulation work. Based on the result of the work, the proposed biosyngas DRI route has comparable energy demand compared to other DRI routes, such as the well-established coal gasification and natural gas DRI route. The proposed process can also capture 0.65-1.13 t of CO2 per t DRI depending on the integration scenarios, which indicates a promising route to achieving carbon-negative steel production., QC 20230607

Carbon and H2 recoveries from plastic waste enable high value-added utilizations of plastic waste while mini-mizing its GHG emissions. The objective of this study is to explore the use of a metal-free biocarbon catalyst for waste plastic pyrolysis and in-line catalytic cracking to produce H2-rich gases and carbon. The results show that the biocarbon catalyst exhibits a good catalytic effect and stability for various plastic wastes. Increasing the C/P ratio from 0 to 2, induce an increase in the conversion rate of C and H in plastics to carbon and H2 from 57.1% to 68.7%, and from 22.7% to 53.5%, respectively. Furthermore, a carbon yield as high as 580.6 mg/gplastic and an H2 yield as high as 68.6 mg/gplastic can be obtained. The hierarchical porous structure with tortuous channels of biocarbon extends the residence time of pyrolysis volatiles in the high-temperature catalytic region and thereby significantly promotes cracking reactions., QC 20230524

The use of catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of biomass to produce high-quality bio-oils as potential substitutes for conventional fuels plays an essential role in the decarbonization of the world. In this study, continuous CFP tests of sawdust using three commercial-ready catalysts were performed. The overall objective is to screen appropriate catalysts and catalyst loading amounts for further commercialization and upgrading by evaluating the quality of the organic fraction bio-oils and clarifying the relationship between the hydrogen-to-carbon atomic effective (H/ Ceff) ratio and bio-oil yield. The results displayed that, owing to a cracking effect of the catalyst, all catalytic cases had higher H/Ceff ratios and larger relative area percentages of hydrocarbons determined by NMR. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that, compared to non-catalytic bio-oils, catalytic bio-oils showed more distillates in the diesel range. Increasing the catalyst-loading amount also showed the same effect. Overall, all bio-oil products from catalytic cases had H/Ceff ratios higher than 0.6, indicating the production of promising oil for hydrodeoxygenation. By analyzing and fitting the data from this work and comparing with the literature, it could be concluded that its yield would decrease as the bio-oil product quality increases (the H/Ceff ratios increase)., QC 20230509

The decarbonisation of the Swedish iron and steel industry is crucial in achieving Sweden's target to achieve zero net emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2045. Direct electrification of industrial furnaces could be an important milestone in decarbonising the iron and steel plants. In this study, pilot-scale trials were performed to investigate the possibility of plasma torch application for steel reheating furnaces. A 250 kW DC plasma torch was used to heat the furnace from room to the operating temperature of 1200 degrees C. Different plasma carrier gases were then used to study their impact on the plasma torch efficiency, furnace temperature profile, NOX emission, and steel oxidation. The results show that the furnace could be heated at a relatively uniform temperature and reasonable time. The combination of air and LPG in the plasma generator provides the most uniform temperature distribution and highest plasma torch efficiency, but it generates the highest NOX emission. N2 as plasma gas resulted in notably poorer temperature distribution and lower plasma torch efficiency; however, it can suppress the oxide formations. Meanwhile, CO2 as plasma gas could be a promising option among the studied gas mixtures as it can provide a good heating performance with a low NOX formation. In summary, the current study has proved that it is practical and functionally possible to heat steel using plasma technology., QC 20230424

The use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is vital to reaching the desired climate goals. This study proposed a novel process combining anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, catalytic reforming and methanation (APRM) to produce biomethane and to capture carbon emission from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The evaluation of the process was conducted by using modelling software and techno-economic analysis. The process modelling and evaluation result showed that 151.4 kg CH4 and 355.64 kg stored carbon emission can be produced from 1 ton dry matter of OFMSW with an energy efficiency of 0.40. 6.74 MJ electricity was required to capture 1 kg of CO2 via the proposed process. The energy balance of the pyrolysis reaction was investigated. The sensitivities of the pyrolysis temperatures, dewatering technologies and conversion of catalytic reforming on the process performance were analyzed. The result also indicated a positive net profit when using the APRM process to treat the OFMSW based on the calculation of operating expenses and revenue, when the CO2 negativity can be sold as commodity., Not duplicate with Diva 1612933, QC 20220517

Anaerobic digestion is the most promising disposal methods to treat organic waste. Also, a feasible management is necessary for the resulted digestate. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) combination with pyrolysis could be a proper solution to use for the treatment of digestate. In this study, the effect of an HTC on the pyrolysis of the digestate of agricultural waste (AWD) was investigated, focusing on the kinetic and thermodynamic aspects. Three model-free methods, including Friedman, KAS, and OFW methods, were used to evaluate the kinetic performance of the total and pseudo pyrolytic reactions of AWD and its hydrochar. Furthermore, kinetic predictions were made to provide more information for further studies. It was found that the HTC treatment decreased the activation energy ranges of the pyrolysis of AWD from 182.9-274.43 kJ/mol to 144.59-205.20 kJ/mol by using the Friedman method. For a more thorough understanding of the effect of HTC treatment on the pyrolysis of AWD, the pyrolysis reactions of AWD and its hydrochar were divided into two pseudoreactions using the Fraser-Suzuki deconvolution method. The mean activation energy of the deduced pseudo 2 pyrolytic reaction of hydrochar was 175.64 kJ/mol, which was 28.11 kJ/mol less than that of AWD. In addition, the Delta H(double dagger )values of the pseudo 2 reactions of AWD and its hydrochar were 197.97 and 169.68 kJ/mol, respectively. The results of kinetic isothermal predictions suggested that the peak temperature for the further research and application of the pyrolysis of AWD and its hydmchar should not be lower than 450 degrees C., QC 20211230

Dedicated bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage are important elements for the mitigation scenarios to limit the global temperature rise within 1.5 °C. Thus, the productions of carbon-negative fuels and chemicals from biomass is a key for accelerating global decarbonisation. The conversion of biomass into syngas has a crucial role in the biomass-based decarbonisation routes. Syngas is an intermediate product for a variety of chemical syntheses to produce hydrogen, methanol, dimethyl ether, jet fuels, alkenes, etc. The use of biomass-derived syngas has also been seen as promising for the productions of carbon-negative metal products. This paper reviews several possible technologies for the production of syngas from biomass, especially related to the technological options and challenges of reforming processes. The scope of the review includes partial oxidation (POX), autothermal reforming (ATR), catalytic partial oxidation (CPO), catalytic steam reforming (CSR) and membrane reforming (MR). Special attention is given to the progress of CSR for biomass-derived vapours as it has gained significant interest in recent years. Heat demand and efficiency together with properties of the reformer catalyst were reviewed more deeply, in order to understand and propose solutions to the problems that arise by the reforming of biomass-derived vapours and that need to be addressed in order to implement the technology on a big scale., QC 20230227

A novel pyrolysis followed by in-line cascaded catalytic reforming process without additional steam was developed to produce high-purity syngas from woody biomass. The key to the proposed process is the construction of a cascaded biochar + NiAl2O4 catalytic reforming process in which biochar acts as a pre-reforming catalyst, and NiAl2O4 acts as a primary reforming catalyst. The large oxygenates in the pyro-vapors are deeply cracked in the biochar layer due to the increased residence time in the hot-biochar bed. The remaining small molecules are then reformed with the autogenerated steam from pyrolysis catalyzed by the reduced Ni0 species in the NiAl2O4 catalyst (NiAlO). The results showed that the yield of syngas for the optimized process was 71.28 wt% (including 44.44 mg-H2/g-biomass and 536.48 mg-CO/g-biomass), and the CO2 yield of the process was only 3 kg-CO2/kg-hydrogen. High-purity syngas with 89.47 vol% of (H2 + CO) was obtained, and the gas energy conversion efficiency (GECE) of the process reached 75.65%. The study shows that in the cascaded catalytic reforming process, cracking of the large oxygenates and reforming of the small molecules are promoted sequentially in separated biochar + NiAlO catalyst layers, which maximizes the syngas production and improves the activity and stability of the Ni-based catalyst., Correction in: DO 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120417 and DOI 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119501QC 20220818

Non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of two waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) fractions, with two different copper contents (low-and medium-grade WEEE named as LGE and MGE, respectively), were performed using micro-and lab-scale pyrolyzers. This research aimed to fundamentally study the feasibility of chemical recycling of the WEEE fractions via pyrolysis process considering molecular interactions at the interfaces of catalyst active sites and WEEE pyrolyzates which significantly influence the chemical functionality of surface intermediates and catalysis by reorganizing the pyrolyzates near catalytic active sites forming reactive surface intermediates. Hence, Al2O3, TiO2, HBeta, HZSM-5 and spent FCC catalysts were used in in-situ micro-scale pyrolysis. Results indicated that HBeta and HZSM-5 zeolites were more suitable than other catalysts for selective production of aromatic hydrocarbons and BTX. High acidity and shape selectivity of zeotype surfaces make them attractive frameworks for catalytic pyrolysis processes aiming for light hydrocarbons like BTX. Meanwhile, the ex-situ pyrolysis of LGE and MGE were carried out using HZSM-5 in micro-and lab-scale pyrolyzers to investigate the effect of pyrolysis configuration on the BTX selectivity. Although the ex-situ pyrolysis resulted in higher formation of BTX from LGE, the in-situ configuration was more efficient to produce BTX from MGE., QC 20221010

Undeniably, non-sanitary landfills existing worldwide pose considerable environmental risks related to air, water and soil pollution. Despite that, the landfill mining concept does not spread swiftly around the world. To prevent its fading into oblivion, it is necessary to transform the perception of landfills as waste to seeing them as stocks of valuable materials. Guided by this idea, this novel study investigates the possibility of producing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and hydrogen-rich gas, materials crucial for our transition towards a more sustainable future, from excavated waste as these. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on catalytic pyrolysis of excavated waste. For this purpose, excavated waste was subjected to pyrolysis followed by in-line catalytic decomposition of the produced pyrovapours. The impact of the catalyst type and catalyst bed temperature on the process performance was analysed. Six types of monometallic and bimetallic Ni- and Fe- based catalysts, synthesised using two methods (the sol-gel and the impregnation method), were considered. Three catalyst bed temperatures were taken into account, namely 700 degrees C, 800 degrees C, and 900 degrees C. The results showed that the bimetallic catalyst prepared by using the sol-gel method (FeNi/Al_Sg) outperformed the other analysed catalysts, yielding 9 mmol/g(sample_daf) of H-2 and 76 mg/g(sample_daf) of CNTs at 800 degrees C. The product yields and quality were comparable to those reported in the open literature for homogeneous plastic waste pyrolysis. Eventually, the future research directions were discussed., QC 20220627

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is one of the prevailing negative carbon emission technologies. Ensuring a hydrogen economy is essential to achieving the carbon-neutral goal. In this regard, the present study contributed by proposing a carbon negative process for producing high purity hydrogen from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). This integrated process comprises anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, catalytic reforming, water-gas shift, and pressure swing adsorption technologies. By focusing on Sweden, the proposed process was developed and evaluated through sensitivity analysis, mass and energy balance calculations, techno-economic assessment, and practical feasibility analysis. By employing the optimum operating conditions from the sensitivity analysis, 72.2 kg H2 and 701.47 kg negative CO2 equivalent emissions were obtained by treating 1 ton of dry OFMSW. To achieve these results, 6621.4 MJ electricity and 325 kg of steam were utilized during this process. Based on this techno-economic assessment of implementing the proposed process in Stockholm, when the negative CO2 equivalent emissions are recognized as income, the internal rate of return and the discounted payback period can be obtained as 26% and 4.3 years, respectively. Otherwise, these values will be 13% and 7.2 years., QC 20220617

Fuelled by further planet degradation concerns, the circular economy concept spreads worldwide, incorporating the need for the closing of material loops. This can be done not only by waste prevention and recycling but also by excavating old landfill sites. In line with this need, the Enhanced Landfill Mining concept was developed, which covers mining of old landfills combined with material and energy recovery from the excavated material. Site-specific investigations of excavated material are required because the way of excavated material utilisation has to be individually tailored to the material features. In this article, the valorisation options for the excavated waste from the old part of the landfill located in Mont-Saint-Guibert (Belgium) are preliminarily assessed. Seven separated waste fractions were analysed regarding their thermal decomposition pattern (TGA), pyrolysis potential (Py-GC/MS), and elemental composition (ICP-OES). Most of the analysed fractions are characterised by a highly heterogeneous composition, which excludes their primary or secondary recycling. The fractions are also characterised by high calorific value, which indicates the potential for thermochemical utilisation (i.e., pyrolysis). The presence of a significant amount of heavy metals (especially Hg and Pb) and chlorine may, however, pose a considerable risk of the contamination of pyrolysis products. It may require costly washing of the feedstock prior to the utilisation or cleaning of the process products prior to their use. Therefore, in order to limit additional costs, collective pyrolysis of all fractions seems to be a feasible way of their utilisation., QC 20210901, NEW-MINE; Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 721185

The current transition to a circular economy model laid the foundations for the development of the Enhanced Landfill Mining concept. Hitherto, a few studies have been performed on the thermochemical valorisation of excavated waste, of which a majority concern incineration or gasification. Nonetheless, no previous studies on excavated waste pyrolysis, including the characterisation of the process products, have been identified. Ergo, this study aims at filling this knowledge gap. The pyrolysis of refuse-derived fuel formed from excavated waste was performed in a lab-scale reactor in the temperature range of 400–700 °C. The non-condensable products (non-condensables) were analysed using Micro GC, whereas the condensable products (condensables) were characterised using GC/MS. Additionally, the distribution of C, H, N, S, O, and Cl among the process products was analysed. The high content of C2–C3 hydrocarbons was detected in non-condensables, whereas the abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was detected among condensable products. However, due to feedstock complex thermal decomposition pattern, no overall tendency, covering the process product properties in relation to the process temperature, can be determined. These fluctuations of composition, therefore, have to be taken into account in the planning of the future utilisation of the excavated waste pyrolysis products. Moreover, two possible risks, connected with the further process products utilisation, were identified – namely, chlorine forming primarily organic compounds and sulphur forming mostly gaseous compounds (H2S)., QC 20200921, NEW-MINE; Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 721185

The antioxidant activity and the structure-activity relationship of aqueous phase bio-oil (APBO), obtained from hydrothermal treatment (HTT) combined with pyrolysis of biomass, have been investigated in this study. HTT increased the relative content of phenolic compounds and reduced the relative content of acids. Phenolic compounds possessed as the dominant chemical components in APBO, representing up to 61.68 %. 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol) and its derivatives were the major components of phenolic compounds. HTT promoted the antioxidant activity of APBOs and APBO-180 showed higher antioxidant activity than that of commercial chemical antioxidant (butylated hydroxyl toluene) with IC50 values of 0.402 mg/mL of reducing power, 0.132 mg/mL of DPPH free radical scavenging capacity and 0.405 mg/mL of hydroxyl free radical scavenging capability. The antioxidant activity of APBO was affected by its chemical composition. Phenols exhibited a promotion effect on antioxidant activity, while acids showed an inhibition effect. In addition, the substituent structure of phenols played a key role in antioxidant activity. Phenols with the shorter carbon side chain showed higher antioxidant activity (e.g. 2-methylphenol>2-methoxyphenol, 4-methyl-2-methoxyphenol>4-ethyl-2methoxyphenol). This study suggested that APBO could be developed as the natural feed additives or alternative antioxidant, providing a new strategy for efficient utilization of APBO., QC 20210125

The use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is vital to reaching the desired climate goals. This study proposed a novel process combining anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, catalytic reforming and methanation (APRM) to produce biomethane and to capture carbon emission from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The evaluation of the process was conducted by using modelling software and techno-economic analysis. The process modelling and evaluation result showed that 151.4 kg CH4 and 355.64 kg stored carbon emission can be produced from 1 ton dry matter of OFMSW with an energy efficiency of 0.40. 6.74 MJ electricity was required to capture 1 kg of CO2 via the proposed process. The energy balance of the pyrolysis reaction was investigated. The sensitivities of the pyrolysis temperatures, dewatering technologies and conversion of catalytic reforming on the process performance were analyzed. The result also indicated a positive net profit when using the APRM process to treat the OFMSW based on the calculation of operating expenses and revenue, when the CO2 negativity can be sold as commodity., QC 20211215

Treating the solid residue after anaerobic digestion (AD) of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is currently a challenge. Here, pyrolysis is a promising way of recovering energy and materials from these solid residues. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the pyrolysis performance of these solid residues. The effect of AD on the pyrolysis of OFMSW was also studied. Thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and bench-scale pyrolysis experiments were performed by using OFMSW and anaembically digested OFMSW. Mathematical deconvolution analysis (MDA), model-free methods, and model-based methods were applied to study the kinetics. Thereafter, thermodynamic parameters were estimated based on the deduced kinetic results. The char, liquid, and permanent gas products from bench-scale experiments were characterized. The pyrolysis results show that the activation energies of the pseudoreactions of OFMSW are higher than those of the corresponding pseudoreactions of digestate. Moreover, the entropy reduction for digestate is larger than that for OFMSW. The characterization results of the products from the bench-scale experiments show that the interactions among feedstock components (lipids, lignocellulose, and proteins) during pyrolysis are enhanced by the application of AD. However, the pyrolysis yields of both heavy organics and gas are inhibited by the application of AD, while the char yield shows the opposite trend., QC 20211015

Pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) represents one of the most promising solutions to recycle materials and recover energy. Two of the main components of MSW are waste cardboard and plastic. In this study, the pyrolysis of cardboard and polyethylene (PE) and the co-pyrolysis of their mixtures were conducted to investigate the synergistic effect by using thermogravimetric analysis. The whole reaction process was divided into four pseudoreactions, namely, hemicellulose, lignin, cellulose, and PE, by using the Frazer-Suzuki deconvolution method. It was found that the co-pyrolysis of cardboard and PE could promote the decomposition degrees of cardboard from 70.28% to 75.31%, when the PE fraction increased from 0 to 75%. However, the presence of cardboard can hinder the heat adsorption of PE, which shifts the peak of the PE reaction to a higher temperature. This results in higher E-a and Delta H double dagger values for PE pyrolysis with an increasing fraction of cardboard. On the other hand, the E-a and Delta H double dagger values of cellulose pyrolysis have their lowest values when the mixing rate is around 50%. This research deepens the understanding of the synergistic effect of co-pyrolysis of cardboard and PE, which supports the potential application of pyrolysis of MSW., QC 20210720

Effective recycling of metallic waste and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) is of crucial importance. Currently used separation and sorting techniques result in the formation of fine residue (usually below 10–20 mm) called shredder fines. Shredder fines contain the so-called ‘fluff' (i.e., foam, wood and textile fibres) with metal particles entangled in it. This ‘fluff' interferes with sorting techniques and thus reduces the metal recycling rate. For this reason, presently, shredder fines are primarily landfilled, which is not covered by the greater objective of the circular economy; therefore, the need for their recycling emerged. Low-temperature pyrolysis (torrefaction) increases the ‘fluff' fragility and thus liberates the metal particles without their substantial oxidation, thereby enabling their recycling. For that reason, in this article, shredder fines torrefaction was performed at the temperature range of 250–450 °C. The process products were comprehensively characterised using, among others, MicroGC (non-condensables), GC/MS (condensables), and ICP-SFMS (char). The possible application of the torrefied shredder fines after the metal sorting was discussed as well. Torrefaction was identified as a promising way of shredder fines recycling, and the torrefied shredder fines after metals sorting have the potential to be used as an ingredient of a raw material mix for cement kilns., QC 20210901

Organic-rich pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) has the potential to become a renewable carbon source for producing alternatives to fossil-based product. In this work, PPMS treated by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) was investigated based on its pyrolysis properties. The pyrolytic mechanism, kinetics data and product of the sample were studied using TG as well as pyrolysis tests in Py-GC/MS and a bench-scale reactor at 450, 550, and 650 degrees C. The results show that the thermal decomposition of feedstock is a two-stage reaction. The mean activation energy of the pyrolysis of HTC treated PPMS was estimated as 233.08 kl/mol, which is higher than that of the pyrolysis of paper sludge reported before. The changes in enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs free energies from the reactants to the activated complex were estimated. The concentration of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the derived organic liquid fraction shows a positive correlation with the pyrolysis temperature. At 550 degrees C, the organic liquid fraction reached its highest yield at 13.7% with an oxygen level of 10.7 wt% and a higher heating value of 35.9 MJ/ kg. The pyrolytic chars show that a molar ratio of O:C is less than 0.2, which shows potential for use as a carbon sink., QC 20210825

Anaerobic digestion is a practical process for recovering energy and materials from sewage sludge. However, land disposal of the derived digestate results in environmental problems, such as eutrophication and salinization. Copyrolysis of sewage sludge digestate and lignocellulosic biomass produces a high-quality oil, a diluted hazardous component of biochar. This study investigates the copyrolysis behavior of lignocellulosic biomass and sludge digestate with different blending ratios using bench-scale experiments. Compared to individual feedstock pyrolysis, copyrolysis shows a higher energy distribution in the liquid product and a lower energy distribution in the char and gas product. The highest energy yield with respect to the organic fraction of liquid product is observed in the copyrolysis case, corresponding to 36.4% of the total energy in the feedstock. The interaction between the sludge digestate and lignocellulosic biomass is studied through product characterizations, mechanistic investigations and char stability assessments. The liquid products in the copyrolysis cases show a relatively high abundance of esters, aliphatic hydrocarbons, pyridines and pyrroles. The reaction pathways of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates are investigated. Two synergistic reaction pathways are proposed. The char stability and nitrogen distribution are investigated. According to the results, the synergistic interaction between feedstocks enhances the quality and energy yield of the liquid biofuel. The char product from copyrolysis has higher potential for use as a carbon sink and fertilizer., QC 20210517

A series of magnetic bio-activated carbon (MBAC) has been produced from lignin and ferrous salts following to the process including impregnation, carbonization, and steam activation. The influence of the impregnation methods and the steam flow rate on the quality and the maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity of the produced MBACs has been investigated. The phosphorus adsorption performance in real domestic wastewater of the MBAC with the highest maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity has been investigated. The results show that all of the produced MBACs have a relatively rich porous structure, and all surface iron species exist as magnetite (Fe3O4). Compared with the MBACs that are produced via the dry impregnation method using a lower steam flow rate, the MBACs that are produced via the wet impregnation method using a higher steam flow rate are believed to have a higher iron content and better iron species dispersion. The highest maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity of all the produced MBACs is estimated to be as high as 69.80 mg-P/g according to the best-fitting Langmuir model. The MBAC that shows the highest maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity could also remove 84.65% and 96.97% of the total phosphorus from the filtered raw domestic wastewater (FRDW) and treated domestic wastewater (TDW), respectively, which indicates a good potential for using MBACs for domestic wastewater treatment., QC 20210420

Hydrogen and biocarbon are important materials for the future fossil-free metallurgical industries in Sweden; thus, it is interesting to investigate the process that can simultaneously produce both. Process simulations of biomass pyrolysis coupled with steam reforming and water-gas-shift to produce H-2, biocarbon, and bio-oil are investigated in this work. The process simulation is performed based on a biomass pyrolysis plant currently operating in Sweden. Two co-production schemes are proposed: (1) production of biocarbon and H-2, and (2) production of biocarbon, H-2, and bio-oil. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to investigate the performance of the production schemes under different operating parameters. The results indicated that there are no notable differences in terms of the thermal efficiency for both cases. Varying the bio-oil condenser temperature only slightly changes the system's thermal efficiency by less than 2%. On the other hand, an increase in biomass moisture content from 7 to 14 wt.% can decrease the system's efficiency from 79.0% to 72.6%. Operating expenses are evaluated to elucidate the economics of 3 different cases: (1) no bio-oil production, (2) bio-oil production with the condenser at 50 degrees C, and (3) bio-oil production with the condenser at 130 degrees C. Based on operation expenses (OPEX) and revenue alone, it is found that producing more bio-oil helps improving the economics of the process. However, capital costs and the cost for post-processing of bio-oil should also be considered in the future. The estimated minimum selling price for biocarbon based on OPEX alone is approx. 10 SEK, which is within the range of the current commercial price of charcoal and coke., QC 20210423

Primary fragmentation during rapid pyrolysis is considered to be the critical size reduction mechanism as it determines the particle size distribution and char conversion rates in the fixed bed gasifier. This study aims to investigate the primary fragmentation behavior of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) pellets during a rapid pyrolysis process. RDF pellets consisted of different blending ratios of cardboard and polyethylene (PE) were produced by a single-pellet densification process. Pyrolysis tests at temperature ranges of 500-700 degrees C were performed for each pellet type, and the number and particle size of the fragmented particles were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the different composition of RDF causes different particle binding mechanisms that behave differently during pyrolysis. Densification of cardboard particles can maintain the structure of the pellet char at higher temperatures compared to PE, due to the more stable lignin binding mechanism. A modified Fragmentation Ratio (FR) is introduced to quantify the degree of fragmentation. It is shown that a raise of the concentration of PE from 25 to 75 wt% increases the FR value by up to 4.2 times, whereas an increase in pyrolysis temperature from 500 to 700 degrees C only slightly changes the FR values. It can be concluded that the type of materials in the RDF pellet has a more dominating effect on the fragmentation compared to the pyrolysis temperature. Further, the volatile matter content of pellets shows a linear correlation with the FR value, whereas no clear relation is found in the case of the pellet's mechanical strength., QC 20230920

Catalytic tar removal from producer gas is critical for the economic feasibility of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) gasification in the waste-to-energy(WtE) approach. Nickeland noble-metal catalysts have the highest tar cracking activities, but they increase costs, use scarce materials, and generate dangerous byproducts. To overcome these drawbacks, naturally occurring materials should be used for tar cracking. In this paper, two nanomaterials, synthesized from oyster and mussel waste shells respectively, are used to clean syngas from MSW in a secondary tar cracking unit. We observed that they reform class 1 tar (heavy tars that condense at high temperatures at very low concentrations) into class 3 tar (light hydrocarbons that are not important in condensation) and benzene. Although both catalysts' composition and textural properties were identical, crystallite size and especially specific surface area variation was enough to generate a change in product selectivity. A larger crystallite size and SSA shows a soot yield reduction of 95% with respect to the non-catalytic case, simultaneously increasing the H-2/CO at 1000 degrees C., QC 20210126

This study focuses on chemical recycling of plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which constitutes a problematic waste fraction due to the presence of brominated flame retardants. An auger reactor has been designed and used for this study. Real WEEE material provided by Stena Technoworld has been pyrolyzed under different temperature conditions. The performance of the reactor as well as other important parameters such as the fate of the bromine have been investigated and evaluated. The main outcome of this investigation is to simulate a continuous process, which can be useful for designing a full-scale industrial process. The mass balance results after performing thermal treatment at 400, 500, and 600 °C, showed a high gas yield (44 %wt) at the temperature of 600 °C, which energy content is enough to self-sustain the auger reactor. At the low temperature of 400 °C the oil production reaches its maximum yield as well as maximum concentration of bromine, corresponding to 0.5 wt% in the oil. Several valuable organic compounds have been detected in the oil composition, which can be used as precursors for feedstock recycling producing new plastics., QC 20201120

Pyrolysis of biomass is an effective approach to produce high-value added solid, liquid and gaseous products. Wood vinegar (WV) is obtained as one of the main liquid products of biomass pyrolysis and has been used as the sustainable chemicals in agriculture. In this study, the effects of acid-base properties of chemical reagents on the biomass pyrolysis behavior and WV properties were investigated, and the mechanism was further discussed. The results indicated that acid-base properties of chemical reagents exhibited the significant effects on pyrolysis behavior and WV properties. Alkaline compounds showed the more obviously effects on changes in biomass chemical structure rather than acids, while acids removed the metallic species more efficiently than alkaline compounds. All chemical pretreatments increased the cellulose crystallinity, and the alkaline compounds were more favorable than the acidic compounds for increasing the crystallinity. Meanwhile, chemical pretreatments changed the chemical structure of biomass and promoted the pyrolysis process. All chemical pretreatments increased the organic content of WV. The relative content of phenols increased after all pretreatments, which increased more obviously by the acids pretreatments. Whereas, the relative content of acids decreased after pretreated by inorganic acids, and increased after pretreated by organic acids and alkaline compounds., QC 20201109

Gasification of excavated landfill waste is one of the promising options to improve the added-value chain during remediation of problematic old landfill sites. Steam gasification is considered as a favorable route to convert landfill waste into H-2-rich syngas. Co-gasification of such a poor quality landfill waste with biochar or biomass would be beneficial to enhance the H-2 concentration in the syngas, as well as to improve the gasification performance. In this work, steam co-gasification of landfill waste with biochar or biomass was carried out in a lab-scale reactor. The effect of the fuel blending ratio was investigated by varying the auxiliary fuel content in the range of 15-35 wt%. Moreover, co-gasification tests were carried out at temperatures between 800 and 1000 degrees C. The results indicate that adding either biomass or biochar enhances the H-2 yield, where the latter accounts for the syngas with the highest H-2 concentration. At 800 degrees C, the addition of 35 wt% biochar can enhance the H-2 concentration from 38 to 54 vol%, and lowering the tar yield from 0.050 to 0.014 g/g-fuel-daf. No apparent synergetic effect was observed in the case of biomass co-gasification, which might cause by the high Si content of landfill waste. In contrast, the H-2 production increases non-linearly with the biochar share in the fuel, which indicates that a significant synergetic effect occurs during co-gasification due to the reforming of tar over biochar. Increasing the temperature of biochar co-gasification from 800 to 1000 degrees C elevates the H-2 concentration, but decreases the H-2/CO ratio and increases the tar yield. Furthermore, the addition of biochar also enhances the gasification efficiency, as indicated by increased values of the energy yield ratio., QC 20200915

Currently, the reclamation and reuse of water have not reached their full potential, although more energy is needed to obtain and transport freshwater and this solution has a more serious environmental impact. Agricultural irrigation is, by far, the largest application of reclaimed water worldwide, so the proposed concept may result in the production of water that can be used, among others, for crop irrigation. This paper describes a novel installation for the recovery of the agricultural water from the digestate, along with the results of initial experiments. Currently, water is wasted, due to evaporation, in anaerobic digestion plants, as the effluent from dewatering of the digestate is discharged into lagoons. Moreover, water that stays within the interstitial space of the digestate is lost in a similar fashion. With increasing scarcity of water in rural areas, such waste should not be neglected. The study indicates that hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) enhances mechanical dewatering of the agricultural digestate and approximately 900 L of water can be recovered from one ton. Dewatered hydrochars had a lower heating value of almost 10 MJ/kg, indicating the possibility of using it as a fuel for the process. The aim of this Design Innovation Paper is to outline the newly developed concept of an installation that could enable recovery of water from, so far, the neglected resource-i.e., digestate from anaerobic digestion plants., QC 20200818

To date, few studies on the potential utilization of agricultural residue torrefaction products have been performed. Thus, torrefaction product characterization aimed at its potential utilization was performed. Wheat–barley straw pellets and wheat–rye chaff were used in the study. The impact of the torrefaction temperature (280–320 °C) on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content in the biochar and noncondensable gas (noncondensables) composition was investigated. The impact of the torrefaction time (30–75 min) on the composition of the condensable volatiles (condensables) and their toxicity were also studied. The torrefaction process was performed in a batch-scale reactor. The PAH contents were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the noncondensables composition was measured online using a gas analyzer and then gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The condensables composition and main compound quantification were determined and quantified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Three toxicity tests, for saltwater bacteria (Microtox® bioassay), freshwater crustaceans (Daphtoxkit F magna®), and vascular plants (Lemna sp. growth inhibition test), were performed for the condensables. The PAHs content in the biochar, regardless of the torrefaction temperature, allows them to be used in agriculture. The produced torgas shall be co-combusted with full-caloric fuel because of its low calorific value. Toxic compounds (furans and phenols) were identified in the condensable samples, and regardless of the processing time, the condensables were classified as highly toxic. Therefore, they can be used either as pesticides or as an anaerobic digestion substrate after their detoxification., QC 20210901

Peat moss in drained peatlands has become a non-negligible source of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Pyrolysis is a potential technique to convert carbon-emitting peat moss to carbon-storage materials. This work investigates the behavior of peat moss pyrolysis by a combined in-situ thermal analysis and bench-scale pyrolysis experiment methodology. The simultaneous thermal analyzer, which provides the simultaneous TG/DTA analysis, was employed to reveal the thermal decomposition behavior of peat moss. The samples were heated up to 900 degrees C with different heating rates of 10, 15, and 20 degrees C/min. Thereafter, pyrolysis experiments with peak temperatures of 450, 500, 550 and 600 degrees C were performed in a bench-scale pyrolyzer. It was found that there are four main stages and two micro stages of mass loss during peat moss pyrolysis from room temperature to 900 degrees C. Also, kinetic parameters were calculated based on the results of TG and DTG by the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method and the Coats-Redfern (CR) method. In the bench-scale pyrolysis experiments, four phases, i.e., char, tar, aqueous phase, and gas, were obtained and characterized. The carbon distribution and the GHG emission from peat moss pyrolysis were determined., QC 20200715

An integrated process that includes the pyrolysis of FeSO4 dry impregnated lignin and subsequent steam gasification of the produced biochar has been performed to produce H2-rich syngas and magnetic activated carbon. The results show that gasification is more beneficial for hydrogen production than pyrolysis. Increasing the pyrolysis temperature from 550 °C to 800 °C and iron loading from 4% to 8% not only promotes the extension decomposition of lignin but also induces the production of char, which is more effective for gasification. As a result, the syngas yield and H2 volumetric percentage of both the pyrolysis and steam gasification processes are enhanced. The maximum overall H2 yield and exergy efficiency for producing H2 are estimated to be 42.73 mol/kg-lignin and 46.63%, respectively. Magnetic activated carbon materials produced from the proposed integrated process have a good porous property and high saturation magnetization value. Magnetic activated carbon that is produced from the same process that achieves a maximum H2 yield is obtained and exhibits an approximate 70% total phosphate and 20% ammonia and nitrogen removal efficiency for treating real domestic wastewater., QC 20200707

Lignin and ferrous salt were mechanically mixed, melted, carbonized and steam activated to produce magnetic bio-activated carbons (MBACs). Phosphate adsorption capacity measurement was conducted on representative MBAC, which has a high surface iron oxide proportion and mesoporous volume. The results indicate that iron species are embedded into the carbon matrix by lignin melting. Steam is not only an activation agent for pore generation and widening but is also effective for the oxidization of Hagg iron carbide produced via ferrous salt decomposition and subsequent reduction during the carbonization process to form magnetite. The porous and magnetic properties and surface iron oxide content of the produced MBACs can be modified by controlling the steam/magnetic biochar (MBC) ratio. The MBAC production process is streamlined and novel, compared with conventional coprecipitation or impregnation methods. The maximum phosphate adsorption onto the representative MBAC product using the best fitting model, i.e., the Langmuir-Freundlich model, is estimated to be 21.18 mg/g, suggesting that the representative MBAC product has a comparable phosphate adsorption capacity to most of the reported MBCs and MBACs., QC 20200305

The present work is an attempt to optimize the proportion of H-ZSM-5 and Al-MCM-41 in the catalyst mixtures for lignocellulose biomass catalytic pyrolysis. The H-ZSM-5 proportions of 50.0, 66.7, 75.0, and 87.5 wt.% were examined for the upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapors in the fixed bed reactor. The catalyst mixture of 87.5 wt.% H-ZSM-5 and 12.5 wt.% Al-MCM-41 was found most effective in this study, giving a 65.75% deoxygenation degree. An organic-rich bio-oil was obtained with 74.90 wt.% of carbon content, 8 wt.% of hydrogen content, 15 wt.% oxygen content, a 0.39 wt.% water content, and a high heating value of 34.15 MJ/kg. The highest amount of desirable compounds among the studied catalytic experiments, which include hydrocarbons, phenols, furans, and alcohols, was obtained with a value of 95.89%. A significant improvement in the quality of bio-oil with the utilization of H-ZSM-5 and Al-MCM-41 catalyst mixtures was the rise of desirable compounds in bio-oil., QC 20210315

The objective of the present work is co-production of bio-fuels and magnetic activated carbon (MAC) materials via fast pyrolysis of lignin and ferrous salts mixtures and steam activation of pyrolysis char. Specifically, the effect of the addition of the ferrous salts on the quality of biofuels including bio-gas and bio-oil is investigated. The effect of the addition of the ferrous salts on the mass loss rate of bio-chars during the steam activation process is also investigated. Results show that for the fast pyrolysis process, the addition of ferrous salts leads to a hydrogen rich bio-gas and non-guaiacols containing bio-oil production. The cracking effect of irons for the fast pyrolysis vapors is believed to be the dominated reason. For the steam activation process, the addition of the ferrous salts causes a relatively low mass loss rate of bio-chars, because steam can oxidize iron to form magnetite., QC 20240924

Catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignin was performed using low-cost materials with different acidities and textural properties as catalysts in the present work. The main focus is to understand the role of low-cost catalysts in the fast pyrolysis of lignin. The four most commonly used low-cost catalysts, ilmenite (FeTiO3), bentonite (Al-Si-OH), activated carbon (AC) and red mud (RM), were selected. The results show that bentonite, red mud and activated carbon effectively enhance the dehydration reaction, which is regarded as the dominant way to eliminate oxygen during the pyrolysis process, due to the existence of strong acidic sites. However, only activated carbon is found to be effective in promoting the production of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs). Two metallic catalysts, i. e., bentonite and red mud, have strong acidities but quite low surface areas and less porous structures. Therefore, the dehydrated intermediates produced are especially easy to repolymerize to form char or coke without the restriction of obtaining a porous structure during the pyrolysis process. Activated carbon has not only a certain acidity but also a rich porous structure. Lignin fast pyrolysis-derived oxygenates can diffuse and react on the well-dispersed active sites within the pores of activated carbons. The catalytic performance of the activated carbon are supposed to be determined by the pore size. Only pores of similar size to lignin fast pyrolysis-derived oxygenates (0.6-1 nm) seems to be effective for the production of MAHs. Pores larger or smaller than lignin fast pyrolysis-derived oxygenates both tend to cause coke deposition rather than MAHs formation., QC 20190904

Technical lignin particles melt under relatively low temperature. This results in the problem in the continuous feeding and fluidization during lignin pyrolysis, which in turn limits its utilization on a large scale. In this study, two most available types of lignin have been used to investigate the lignin melting problem, which are Kraft lignin (KL) from pulping process and hydrolysis lignin (HL) from bio-ethanol production process. Elemental composition, thermal property and thermally decomposed derivatives of each sample are tested by elemental analyzer, TGA, DSC, and Py-GC/MS. Morphology, structure and crystal change before and after heat treatment are tested by microscopy, FTIR and XRD. All results suggest that lignin structure determines its melting properties. Kraft lignin from pulping process contains a less cross-linked structure. It melts under heating. On the other hand, hydrolysis lignin from hydrolysis process contains a highly crossed-linked and condensed structure. It does not melt before decomposition under heat treatment. Modifying lignin structure is suggested for the resolution of technical lignin melting problem., QC 20181108

Consumption of electronics increases due to modern society’s growing needs, which leads to increasing generation of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Recycling of WEEE has been a global concern during the last few decades because of the toxic compounds that are produced during recycling. Different recycling techniques have been adapted on a commercial scale in order to overcome this issue, but the recycling of WEEE still lacks the technology to treat different kinds of feedstocks and to maximise the recycling rates. Pyrolysis is an alternative that has not been commercialised yet. One of the challenges for the implementation of this technology is the toxic brominated organic compounds that can be found in the pyrolysis oils. In this study, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), one of the major flame retardants, is reduced in three different WEEE fractions through solvent extraction as a treatment prior to pyrolysis. Two solvents have been experimentally investigated: isopropanol and toluene, the latter of which can be derived from pyrolysis oil. The results indicate that TBBPA was extracted during pre-treatment. Moreover, the total bromine content of WEEE material was reduced after the treatment with a maximum reduction of 36.5%. The pyrolysis experiments indicate that reduction of several brominated organic compounds was achieved in almost all the tested cases, and two brominated compounds (2,4,6-tribromophenol and 2,5-Dibromobenzo(b)thiophene) reached complete removal. Also, the thermal decomposition behaviour of the raw samples and the treated was investigated, showing that the reduction of TBBPA influences the decomposition by shifting the starting decomposition temperature., QC 20181107

Gasification is one of the most important methods for converting biomass to syngas currently used in energy production. However, tar content in syngas limits its direct use and thus requires additional removal techniques. The modelling of tar formation, conversion and destruction along a gasifier could give a wider understanding of the process and subsequently help in tar elimination and reduction. However, tar complexity, which contains hundreds of species, makes the modelling process hard and computationally intensive, because the chemistry of the formation and the combustion of many species have not yet been fully studied. In this work, a detailed kinetic model for the evolution and formation of tar from downdraft gasifiers, for the first-time, was built. The model incorporates four main tar species (benzene, naphthalene, toluene, and phenol) with a total of eighteen different kinetic reactions implemented in the code for every zone. Experimental work was carried out to initially validate the results of the kinetic code and found a good agreement. Further experiments were conducted at three different equivalence ratios (ERs) and at three different temperatures (800, 900, and 1100 °C). Sensitivity analysis was then carried out by the kinetic code to optimise the working parameters of a downdraft gasifier that led to a higher calorific value of syngas. The results reveal that a tar evolution model is more accurate for wood biomass materials and that using ER around 0.3, and moisture content levels lower than 10% lead to the production of higher value syngas with lower tar amounts., QC 20191202. QC 20200109

Until now, few studies on the valorisation of torrefaction condensable volatiles (condensates) have been performed. The composition and toxicity of torrefaction condensable volatiles determine their possible applications. Therefore, a study on the composition of wheat-barley straw torrefaction condensates, combined with toxicity tests, was performed. This analysis was mainly aimed at the utilisation of these condensates as an anaerobic digestion substrate. The torrefaction process was performed in a batch-scale reactor at temperatures from 240 °C to 320 °C. The condensates were analysed using GC/MS, and quantitative analysis was based on the calibration curves (external standard method). Toxicity tests were performed for vascular plants (Lemna sp. Growth Inhibition Test), saltwater bacteria (Microtox® bioassay) and freshwater crustaceans (Daphtoxkit F magna® survival bioassay). The condensates were classified as highly toxic for the tested organisms. Compounds that are inhibitory and/or toxic to anaerobic bacteria were detected in the samples, e.g. furfural, guaiacol, palmitic acid and oleic acid. Taking into account the condensates’ high toxicity for the tested organisms and the presence of anaerobic digestion process inhibitors, there is a significant likelihood that prior detoxification of the condensates is necessary before they can be utilised as anaerobic digestion substrates., QC 20210901

Gasification of excavated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for energy and materials recovery has been seen as a solution for current energetic, environmental and land availability issues. However, it poses many technological challenges, and among them the most difficult is to obtain of a tar-free syngas. In this work, two set of experiments were performed in order to obtain a syngas from MSW with a low tar content. In the first stage, MSW gasification was performed in order to identify the tar yield and composition at different temperatures using air and steam. After that, the most representative tar compound, naphthalene, was selected to perform tar cracking experiments in a pulsed corona plasma reactor able to operate from ambient temperature up to 1200ᵒC. The results of these experiments show that the pulsed corona plasma can enhance the tar thermal cracking reactions, reducing by 200ᵒC the temperature at which 100% of the naphthalene is converted., QC 20191002

The utilization of metal-doped zeolites in catalytic pyrolysis of biomass is a well-known approach to promote the formation of certain compounds. One major technical issue of using zeolites in biomass pyrolysis processes is their rapid deactivation due to coke formation. However, little is known about how metal-doping influences the characteristics of coking, such as coking rate and its composition. In this study, four different materials were experimentally evaluated based on their catalytic activity and coking characteristics: HZSM-5, Fe/ZSM-5, Ni/ZSM-5 and FeNi/ZSM-5. The materials were prepared and characterized followed by screening in a bench-scale setup for in-situ catalytic pyrolysis. The mass balance and composition of pyrolysis products including catalyst coke were analyzed. It was found that metal-doping increases the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons in the liquid product from 59.0 to 82.8 % of GC/MS peak area, especially monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) and naphthalenes. Fe mainly promotes MAHs whereas Ni additionally promotes naphthalenes. FeNi/ZSM-5 enhances the production of both compound groups as well as further reducing the total acid number (TAN). Regarding the catalyst coke, metal-doped catalysts present an increased concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons in terms of MAHs, naphthalenes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. For each catalyst, the chemical composition of catalyst coke reflects the catalyst’s activity seen in vapor upgrading. A reaction pathway based on the observed catalyst activities of metal-doped ZSM-5 and HZSM-5 is proposed. The results also show that metal-doping of catalysts increases the formation of catalyst coke, mainly due to a higher concentration of strong acid sites. Also, the rate of coking is dependent on the strength of acid sites, where the strength correlates with the severity of coking. The coke yield was seen to increase from 3.5 wt% in the case of HZSM-5 to maximum 7.2 wt% over Fe/ZSM-5. However, the metal-dopin, QC 20181206

In the context of chemical recycling of mixed plastics and paper, multitemperature step pyrolysis has shown good potential for the separation of oxygenated products from hydrocarbons. Here, we report results of an investigation of the first pyrolysis step at low temperature, which involves the dehydrochlorination of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and the pyrolysis of cellulose, the main component of paper. Calcium oxide (CaO), selected for its chloride adsorption ability and its catalytic activity on biooil deoxygenation, was used for upgrading the downstream products from the pyrolysis. Additionally, we studied the performance of CaO for the simultaneous adsorption of HCl and for reforming cellulose pyrolysates in the temperature range of 300-600 degrees C with feedstock to CaO ratios of 1:0.2, 1:0.4, and 1:1. It was found that the suitable catalytic temperature for HCl and acetic acid adsorption is lower than 400 degrees C. This is due to the desorption of HCl from CaCl2 and Ca(OH)Cl in the presence of water and CO2 at 400 degrees C and higher. A larger amount of CaO resulted in a more efficient reduction of acids and the organic liquids were found to have lower amounts of oxygen. A comparison between the cases of neat and mixed feedstock showed that pyrolysis of mixed feedstock produced more water, H-2, CO, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when compared to the case of neat materials over CaO., QC 20190830