Pyrolysis as a Method for Processing of Waste from Production of Cultivated Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

Abstract

Because of the current energy crisis, researchers are looking into new potential substrates for production of biofuels and for possible ways to enhance their parameters. In line with such efforts, the current study focuses on the feasibility of processing waste from the production of cultivated tobacco. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of tobacco waste as a raw material for the production of solid biofuels, such as biochar produced through pyrolysis, and to determine its basic physicochemical properties, compared to other materials used for the production of green fuels. The analyses showed calorific values of 16.16 MJ kg−1 for the raw biomass and those in the range of 24.16–27.32 MJ kg−1 for the products of pyrolysis conducted at temperatures of 400–500 °C and with a heating time in the range of 5 to 15 min. To address the safety-related issues, the study also measured the explosion index (Kst max), which, in the raw biomass, amounted to 72.62 bar s−1 and in the biochar was in the range between 82.42 and 88.11 bar s−1. The registered maximum explosion pressure was 7.37 bar in the case of raw biomass, whereas in the biochars, the value ranged from 8.09 to 8.94 bar. The findings show that tobacco waste has parameters comparable to those identified in the case of other solid biofuels, whereas the process of pyrolysis enhances the energy-related parameters without increasing the explosion class of the product.