Flash co-pyrolysis of biomass with polylactic acid. Part 1: Influence on bio-oil yield and heating value

Abstract

High amounts of water present in bio-oil are one of the major drawbacks for its utilisation as a fuel. One technology that shows the potential to satisfy the demand for bio-oil with a reduced water content is the flash co-pyrolysis of biomass with polylactic acid, PLA. The influence of PLA on the pyrolysis of willow is investigated with a semi-continuous home-built pyrolysis reactor. Flash co-pyrolysis of willow/PLA blends (10:1, 3:1, 1:1 and 1:2) show synergetic interaction. A higher bio-oil yield and a lower water content as a function of the willow/PLA ratios are obtained. Among the tested blends, the 1:2 willow/PLA blend shows the most pronounced synergy: a reduction in the production of pyrolytic water of almost 28 %, accompanied by an increase of more than 37 % in the production of water-free bio-oil. Additionally, PLA shows to have a positive influence on the energetic value of the bio-oil produced and on the resulting energy recuperation.

Study of bio-oils and solids from flash pyrolysis of sewage sludges

“…The water content for bio-oil obtained by pyrolysis of AKP sludge is 10.3%, for OLDA sludge 17.0%. These values are significantly lower than the water content of bio-oils obtained from pyrolysis of other biomasses which ranges between 20 and 40% [11,13].…”

“…The flash pyrolysis was performed in semi-continuous lab scale reactor consisting of three parts: the vertical reactor, the injection and the recuperation system [13].…”

Flash co-pyrolysis of biomass with polyhydroxybutyrate: Part 1. Influence on bio-oil yield, water content, heating value and the production of chemicals

“…TGA, TG/MS and TG/FT-IR) did not result in any conclusive evidence regarding interactions between willow and PHB during (slow) co-pyrolysis, nor regarding a decrease in the amount of pyrolytic water in the evolving gasses (as was observed for the co-pyrolysis of willow and PLA in earlier research [13]), a synergetic reduction of the water content and of the amount of pyrolytic water produced during the flash co-pyrolysis of willow and PHB with the semicontinuous home-built pyrolysis reactor is achieved. Additionally, a synergetic increase in pyrolysis yield, water-free bio-oil yield and energy recuperation is observed.…”

“…The CHNS-and O-content of the input materials are determined via two distinct experiments, using a For a detailed description of the experimental flash pyrolysis set-up and procedure, refer to [13]. 1 To the knowledge of the authors, the occurrence of crystals in bio-oil has never been reported.…”

“…The flash co-pyrolysis of biomass and biopolymers offers an alternative waste treatment option and may act as an upgrading step during the pyrolysis of biomass. Recently, the flash copyrolysis of willow and another biopolymer -PLA (polylactic acid) at 723 K has already been reported and showed a clear synergetic effect, resulting in an enhanced bio-oil yield with a lower water content and a higher calorific value [13]. Therefore, a myriad of biopolymers, of which polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) gave the most promising results, has been investigated with a semi-continuous home-built pyrolysis reactor in identical circumstances as for PLA.…”