Production of high-quality pyrolysis product by microwave–assisted catalytic pyrolysis of wood waste and application of biochar

Abstract

Wood waste is employed as the feedstock for production of high-quality pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, bio-gas and biochar by microwave pyrolysis using ZnCl2 and Fe(NO3)3 as additive at 400–800 °C. Pyrolysis temperature influences the yield of the pyrolysis products, which indicates that the yield of bio-gas increases and the yield of biochar decreases as pyrolysis temperature increases. The yield of the bio-oil is little influenced by pyrolysis temperature, which is restrained in the existence of ZnCl2 and Fe(NO3)3. ZnCl2 increases the furfural content in bio-oil. While Fe(NO3)3 promotes H2 production during pyrolysis process. The maximum heating value of bio-gas produced at 800 °C is 12.26 MJ/Nm3. The added ZnCl2 and Fe(NO3)3 increase the yield of the biochar, which also promote the formation of pore structure of biochar. The ZnCl2 and Fe(NO3)3 are converted into ZnO and Fe3O4 onto biochar after pyrolysis, which could be used as the absorbent and photocatalyst for methyl orange removal.

Keywords

• Wood waste
• Microwave pyrolysis
• Biochar
• Adsorbent
• Methyl orange