Molecular Analysis of Primary Vapor and Char Products during Stepwise Pyrolysis of Poplar Biomass

Abstract

Pyrolysis of biomass produces both pyrolysis oil and solid char. In this study, poplar has been pyrolyzed in a stepwise fashion over a series of temperatures from 200 to 500 °C, and both the primary products contributing to pyrolysis oil and the changes in the pyrolyzing poplar surface leading toward char have been characterized at each step. The primary products were identified by direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry, and the changes in the poplar surface were monitored using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) photoacoustic spectroscopy, with a sampling depth of a few micrometers. The primary products from pyrolyzing cellulose, xylan, and lignin under similar conditions were also characterized to identify the sources of the poplar products. ABSTRACT: Pyrolysis of biomass produces both pyrolysis oil and solid char. In this study, poplar has been pyrolyzed in a stepwise fashion over a series of temperatures from 200 to 500 °C, and both the primary products contributing to pyrolysis oil and the changes in the pyrolyzing poplar surface leading toward char have been characterized at each step. The primary products were identified by direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry, and the changes in the poplar surface were monitored using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) photoacoustic spectroscopy, with a sampling depth of a few micrometers. The primary products from pyrolyzing cellulose, xylan, and lignin under similar conditions were also characterized to identify the sources of the poplar products.

Mass Spectrometry: Recent Advances in Direct Open Air Surface Sampling/Ionization

“…181 Recently, a micropyrolyzer stage was implemented in conjunction with DART to study volatiles and char products from biomass. 182 A "temperature-assisted" DART ion source (TA-DART) has been recently reported, 183 and is the basis for the commercial ID-CUBE product. The purpose behind this innovation was to increase the rate of sample vaporization by using a heated metal screen where the sample is deposited on, or rubbed on.…”

“…Thermal-dependent release of components from these solid substrates can be easily achieved by ramping the temperature of the discharge gas, and has been used for the detection of compounds from eucalyptus, and to resolve ions produced by the chemical warfare agent sarin from isobaric interferences . Recently, a micropyrolyzer stage was implemented in conjunction with DART to study volatiles and char products from biomass …”

Stepwise Fast Pyrolysis of Pine Wood

“…54%). Stepwise pyrolysis of hybrid poplar and the wood constituents hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin was studied by Jones et al, 16 using analytical pyrolysis in a batchwise micropyrolyzer. Stepwise pyrolysis of biomass, such as beech, poplar, spruce, and straw, was recently studied by de Wild et al 17 in an auger reactor at temperatures of 250−300 °C (step 1) and 350−400 °C (step 2).…”

Pyrolysis-GC/MS Analysis of Fast Growing Wood Macaranga Species

“…The same compounds are also pyrolysis products of hemicellulose (Shen et al, 2015). Some ketones, aldehydes and acetic acid related compounds were also pyrolysis products of cellulose/hemicellulose (Jones et al 2010;Mullen and Boateng, 2008). Lignin also produces small amounts of acetic acid (Carrier et al, 2017), but most of the acetic acid comes from the cellulose and hemicellulose.…”