Numerical Analysis for Predicting the Rate of Graphitization on Wood Biomass During the Plasma-Assisted Pyrolysis

Abstract

The plasma-assisted pyrolysis process is a powerful treatment for converting wood biomass to graphitic carbon. In order to make this process more precise and effective in time, the rate of graphitization data is needed, especially for predicting the effective time of treatment. In this study, numerical analysis is conducted to predict the rate of graphitization. An explicit finite difference method is applied for the numerical analysis. Some initial parameters used are the wood thickness (5 mm), coefficient of diffusivity (0.082 mm2/s), input plasma temperature (4,000 C), initial wood temperature (35 C), and room temperature (27 C). The analysis was conducted with a variation of time differences of 1 s, 2 s, 3 s, 4 s, and 5 s. The assumption used in this analysis is that the minimum temperature for graphitic carbon conversion is 2,000 C. The result of this study is the values of graphitization rates and exposure times summarized in TABLE 1. Therefore, this numerical analysis can successfully be used to predict the rate of graphitization and plasma exposure time for different wood biomass thicknesses.