Biopitch produced from eucalyptus wood pyrolysis liquids as a renewable binder for carbon electrode manufacture

Abstract

-Interest in biomass as a clean source of fuel, chemicals and materials is growing fast. What is attractive about biomass is its renewability and that it is CO 2 balanced and sulfur-free. Biomass pyrolysis produces charcoal, bio-oil and gases in different proportions, depending on the technology and raw material used. In this study biopitch, a substitute for fossil pitches in electrodes, was produced from bio-oil distillation in bench-scale equipment. Biopitch and charcoal were mixed and thermically modified to give prebaked electrodes. The physico-chemical and mechanical properties of the biopitch and final electrodes were measured and compared with those of coal tar and petroleum materials. Despite their similar application, biomaterials are structurally and chemically different from minerals. The oxygen content in biopitch is ca 20 wt% and in mineral pitches it is no more than 2 wt%. Characterization experiments for electrode samples measured electrical resistivity, Young's modulus, rupture strength, density, porosity and proximate analysis.

Characterization of Waste Tar Associated with Abandoned Wood Chemical Plant Sites in Northwest Pennsylvania, USA

“…Perhaps alternate uses could be found for the waste wood tar from the other abandoned wood chemical plants. In addition to possible use as an alternative fuel, wood biopitch has been proposed as a binder in the carbon electrodes used in electric furnaces, nuclear reactors, and aluminum electrolysis (Rocha et al 2002). Thus, using the waste tar as a raw material, in addition to its potential use as a short-term alternative energy source, may be viable options.…”

Wettability of bio-coke by coal tar pitch for its use in carbon anodes

“…However, due to their high specific surface area and consequently high absorption capacity [8], bio-activated carbon materials are mostly used as sorbents in environmental protection. A few studies are reported in the literature on some of the properties of electrode grade carbons prepared with biocokes made from different biomass materials [1,3,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Bio-coke and bio-pitch, produced by pyrolyzing Eucalyptus wood, were used as renewable sources to make small experimental electrodes [1].…”

“…As the carbon anodes in aluminum industry are consumed during the electrolytic process, anodes made with petroleum coke contribute to carbon and sulfur oxide emissions. However, the bio-coke which is a sulfur-free renewable raw material does not contribute to environmental emissions [9]. Thus, the current emissions could be reduced through the partial replacement of petroleum coke with bio-coke [3].…”

Inspired Preparation of Zinc Oxide Nanocatalyst and the Photocatalytic Activity in the Treatment of Methyl Orange Dye and Paraquat Herbicide

“…Green route synthesis is one of the most promising techniques for the synthesis of nanostructured materials being simple, environmentally safe (mild reaction conditions and no need for toxic chemicals) and inexpensive and can be produced in a large-scale process [13][14][15]. In the present work, a traditional and microwave-assisted green synthesis of ZnO using spinach extract was studied and the resulting ZnO nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) energy, dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD); also, the catalytic activity of the obtained ZnO nanoparticles is evaluated.…”