The Pyrogenation-Characters of Different Layers of the Castor Stalk

Abstract

Castor is one kind of excellent woody materials and can be used to make wood based panel instead of the wood materials. To use the castor stalk better, it studies the chemical composition including cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin by high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) and the standard of PRC respectively, the pyrogenation-characters by thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and the relationship between chemical composition and the pyrogenation-characters by SAS. The results showed that the chemical composition and pyrogenation-characters are different in different layers of the castor stalk, besides the castor stalk is mainly pyrolysis in second stage (between 170-330°C).

Studies to optimize the process of biofuel production from castor stalk

“…The chemical composition of the pith is; cellulose (32.9 %), hemicellulose (9.61 %) and lignin (8.77). The composition not only varies at different positions on the stem, such as lower stem region, upper stem region or branch region but also with harvest seasons [18,47]. The composition reported by Li et al [18] was cellulose (33.19 %), hemicellulose (11.12 %) and lignin (15.48 %).…”

“…Castor stalk has three regions viz, cortex, xylem and marrow (or pith) which are present in the ratio of 10.90 %, 83.95 % and 5.15 % respectively, by weight. The cortex contains long and strong fibers while xylem and pith resembles hardwood and softwood respectively in the structural and mechanical properties [17,18]. The mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, crystallinity and hardness are higher than those of the lower region due the presence of higher lignin content in the upper region [17].…”