Effects of several types of biomass fuels on the yield, nanostructure and reactivity of soot from fast pyrolysis at high temperatures

This study presents the effect of biomass origin on the yield, nanostructure and reactivity of soot. Soot was produced from wood and herbaceous biomass pyrolysis at high heating rates and at temperatures of 1250 and 1400 °C in a drop tube furnace. The structure of solid residues was characterized by electron microscopy techniques, X-ray diffraction and N2 adsorption. The reactivity of soot was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that soot generated at 1400 °C was more reactive than soot generated at 1250 °C for all biomass types. Pinewood, beechwood and wheat straw soot demonstrated differences in alkali content, particle size and nanostructure. Potassium was incorporated in the soot matrix and significantly influenced soot reactivity. Pinewood soot particles produced at 1250 °C had a broader particle size range (27.2–263 nm) compared to beechwood soot (33.2–102 nm) and wheat straw soot (11.5–165.3 nm), and contained mainly multi-core structures.The authors at DTU would like to acknowledge the financial support that they received for this project from Danish Strategic Research Council (Grant No. DSF-10-093956), DONG Energy and Vattenfall. We also thank Professor Kenny Ståhl (DTU Chemistry) for assisting with XRD measurements and data processing, Professor Søren Talbro Barsberg (University of Copenhagen) for assisting with FTIR measurements and Dr. Martin Høj for assiting with N2 adsorption analysis. The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation is acknowledged for their contribution toward the establishment of the Center for Electron Nanoscopy in the Technical University of Denmark and thanks to Wilhelmus Huyzer for initial TEM imaging. Kempe Foundation is acknowledged for the financial support to construct the DTF at LTU. Assistant Professor Catherine Brewer is acknowledged for the article proof reading. The authors acknowledge Professor Randy Vander Wal for the scientific discussions