skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Effect of torrefaction on biomass structure and hydrocarbon production from fast pyrolysis

Abstract

Torrefaction has been shown to improve the chemical composition of bio-oils produced from fast pyrolysis by lowering its oxygen content and enhancing the aromatic yield. A Py-GC/MS study was employed to investigate the effect of torrefaction temperatures (225, 250 and 275 °C) and residence times (15, 30 and 45 min) on product distribution from non-catalytic and H+ZSM-5 catalyzed pyrolysis of pinewood. During torrefaction, structural transformations in biomass constitutive polymers: hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin took place, which were evaluated using component analysis, solid state CP/MAS 13C NMR and XRD techniques. Torrefaction caused deacetylation and decomposition of hemicellulose, cleavage of aryl ether linkages and demethoxylation of lignin, degradation of cellulose and an overall increase in aromaticity of biomass, all of which affected the product yield from pyrolysis of torrefied biomass. For non-catalytic pyrolysis, selectivity of phenolic compounds increased with an increase in torrefaction severity while that of furan compounds decreased. In the case of catalytic pyrolysis, the sample torrefied at 225 °C-30 min and 250 °C-15 min resulted in a significant increase in aromatic hydrocarbon (HC) and also total carbon yield (approx. 1.6 times higher) as compared to catalytic pyrolysis of non-torrefied pine. Cleavage of aryl ether linkages and demethoxylation in ligninmore » due to torrefaction caused increased yield of phenolic compounds, which in the presence of a catalyst were dehydrated to form aromatic HC.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL (United States)
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1265757
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Green Chemistry
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 17; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1463-9262
Publisher:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; Torrefaction; Fast pyrolysis; Catalytic pyrolysis; ZSM-5, CP MAS13C NMR; Pinewood

Citation Formats

Neupane, Sneha, Adhikari, Sushil, Wang, Zhouhong, Ragauskas, Arthur, and Pu, Yunqiao. Effect of torrefaction on biomass structure and hydrocarbon production from fast pyrolysis. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1039/c4gc02383h.
Neupane, Sneha, Adhikari, Sushil, Wang, Zhouhong, Ragauskas, Arthur, & Pu, Yunqiao. Effect of torrefaction on biomass structure and hydrocarbon production from fast pyrolysis. United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4gc02383h
Neupane, Sneha, Adhikari, Sushil, Wang, Zhouhong, Ragauskas, Arthur, and Pu, Yunqiao. 2015. "Effect of torrefaction on biomass structure and hydrocarbon production from fast pyrolysis". United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4gc02383h. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1265757.
@article{osti_1265757,
title = {Effect of torrefaction on biomass structure and hydrocarbon production from fast pyrolysis},
author = {Neupane, Sneha and Adhikari, Sushil and Wang, Zhouhong and Ragauskas, Arthur and Pu, Yunqiao},
abstractNote = {Torrefaction has been shown to improve the chemical composition of bio-oils produced from fast pyrolysis by lowering its oxygen content and enhancing the aromatic yield. A Py-GC/MS study was employed to investigate the effect of torrefaction temperatures (225, 250 and 275 °C) and residence times (15, 30 and 45 min) on product distribution from non-catalytic and H+ZSM-5 catalyzed pyrolysis of pinewood. During torrefaction, structural transformations in biomass constitutive polymers: hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin took place, which were evaluated using component analysis, solid state CP/MAS 13C NMR and XRD techniques. Torrefaction caused deacetylation and decomposition of hemicellulose, cleavage of aryl ether linkages and demethoxylation of lignin, degradation of cellulose and an overall increase in aromaticity of biomass, all of which affected the product yield from pyrolysis of torrefied biomass. For non-catalytic pyrolysis, selectivity of phenolic compounds increased with an increase in torrefaction severity while that of furan compounds decreased. In the case of catalytic pyrolysis, the sample torrefied at 225 °C-30 min and 250 °C-15 min resulted in a significant increase in aromatic hydrocarbon (HC) and also total carbon yield (approx. 1.6 times higher) as compared to catalytic pyrolysis of non-torrefied pine. Cleavage of aryl ether linkages and demethoxylation in lignin due to torrefaction caused increased yield of phenolic compounds, which in the presence of a catalyst were dehydrated to form aromatic HC.},
doi = {10.1039/c4gc02383h},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1265757}, journal = {Green Chemistry},
issn = {1463-9262},
number = 1,
volume = 17,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 104 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Thermochemical conversion of cellulose in polar solvent (sulfolane) into levoglucosan and other low molecular-weight substances
journal, December 2003


Characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin pyrolysis
journal, August 2007


Formation of phenolic oligomers during fast pyrolysis of lignin
journal, July 2014


Effect of crystal size of ZSM-5 on the aromatic yield and selectivity from catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass
journal, March 2014


Catalytic Pyrolysis of Raw and Thermally Treated Lignin Using Different Acidic Zeolites
journal, May 2014


Pyrolysis of Wood/Biomass for Bio-oil: A Critical Review
journal, May 2006


Catalytic Pyrolysis of Torrefied Biomass for Hydrocarbons Production
journal, November 2012


Effect of Torrefaction Temperature on Product Distribution from Two-Staged Pyrolysis of Biomass
journal, December 2011


Effects of the Torrefaction Conditions on the Fixed-Bed Pyrolysis of Norway Spruce
journal, August 2014


Fuel Oil Quality of Biomass Pyrolysis OilsState of the Art for the End Users
journal, July 1999


Intrinsic kinetics of isothermal xylan degradation in inert atmosphere
journal, May 1997


Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass Pretreated by Torrefaction with Varying Severity
journal, August 2014


Fast pyrolysis processes for biomass
journal, March 2000


13C NMR study of cellulose thermal treatment
journal, January 2002


Understanding the Fast Pyrolysis of Lignin
journal, September 2011


Production of green aromatics and olefins by catalytic fast pyrolysis of wood sawdust
journal, January 2011


Fast pyrolysis of biomass thermally pretreated by torrefaction
journal, March 2013


Effect of torrefaction on structure and fast pyrolysis behavior of corncobs
journal, January 2013


NMR analysis of the transformation of wood constituents by torrefaction
journal, February 2012


Cellulose crystallinity index: measurement techniques and their impact on interpreting cellulase performance
journal, January 2010


Extraction of phenolic-carbohydrate complexes from graminaceous cell walls
journal, July 1995


Pseudo-lignin and pretreatment chemistry
journal, January 2011


Two-dimensional spin-exchange solid-state NMR studies of 13C-enriched wood
journal, March 1997


NMR Characterization of Pyrolysis Oils from Kraft Lignin
journal, May 2011


Effects of Two-Stage Dilute Acid Pretreatment on the Structure and Composition of Lignin and Cellulose in Loblolly Pine
journal, September 2008


Cellulose reactivity and glycosidic bond cleavage in aqueous phase by catalytic and non catalytic transformations
journal, July 2011


Catalytic Pyrolysis of Raw and Thermally Treated Cellulose Using Different Acidic Zeolites
journal, February 2014


Catalytic pyrolysis of individual components of lignocellulosic biomass
journal, January 2014


Lignin chemistry?past, present and future
journal, January 1977


Catalytic fast pyrolysis of glucose with HZSM-5: The combined homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions
journal, March 2010


Catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass
journal, January 2014


Characterization of chars from pyrolysis of lignin
journal, August 2004


Chemical and cellulose crystallite changes in Pinus radiata during torrefaction
journal, September 2013


Flash Vacuum Pyrolysis of Methoxy-Substituted Lignin Model Compounds
journal, March 2000


The effect of torrefaction on the chemistry of fast-pyrolysis bio-oil
journal, May 2012


Overview of Applications of Biomass Fast Pyrolysis Oil
journal, March 2004


Effects of torrefaction and densification on switchgrass pyrolysis products
journal, December 2014


Production of hydrocarbon fuels from biomass using catalytic pyrolysis under helium and hydrogen environments
journal, June 2011


Aromatic Production from Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass-Derived Feedstocks
journal, January 2009


Biomass Torrefaction Process Review and Moving Bed Torrefaction System Model Development
report, August 2010


Works referencing / citing this record:

Measuring biomass fast pyrolysis kinetics: State of the art
journal, September 2018

  • SriBala, Gorugantu; Carstensen, Hans-Heinrich; Van Geem, Kevin M.
  • Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Vol. 8, Issue 2
  • https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.326

Torrefaction of densified empty fruit bunches with addition of plastics waste
journal, April 2018