Quantitative Insights into the Fast Pyrolysis of Extracted Cellulose, Hemicelluloses, and Lignin

Abstract

The transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into bio‐based commodity chemicals is technically possible. Among thermochemical processes, fast pyrolysis, a relatively mature technology that has now reached a commercial level, produces a high yield of an organic‐rich liquid stream. Despite recent efforts to elucidate the degradation paths of biomass during pyrolysis, the selectivity and recovery rates of bio‐compounds remain low. In an attempt to clarify the general degradation scheme of biomass fast pyrolysis and provide a quantitative insight, the use of fast pyrolysis microreactors is combined with spectroscopic techniques (i.e., mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy) and mixtures of unlabeled and 13C‐enriched materials. The first stage of the work aimed to select the type of reactor to use to ensure control of the pyrolysis regime. A comparison of the chemical fragmentation patterns of “primary” fast pyrolysis volatiles detected by using GC‐MS between two small‐scale microreactors showed the inevitable occurrence of secondary reactions. In the second stage, liquid fractions that are also made of primary fast pyrolysis condensates were analyzed by using quantitative liquid‐state 13C NMR spectroscopy to provide a quantitative distribution of functional groups. The compilation of these results into a map that displays the distribution of functional groups according to the individual and main constituents of biomass (i.e., hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin) confirmed the origin of individual chemicals within the fast pyrolysis liquids.

Structure-dependent antiviral activity of catechol derivatives in pyroligneous acid against the encephalomycarditis virus

“…[4][5][6] Pyrolysis, a thermal biomass decomposition process that proceeds at intermediate temperature under low-oxygen conditions to yield bio-oil, gases, and biochar, is efficient for biomass conversion. 7,8 The gas product, pyroligneous acid (PA), also called wood vinegar (WV), has been reported to show bioactivities such as anti-oxidant, anti-fungi, and anti-inammation activity. [9][10][11] As viruses threaten human health and cause huge economic losses, much effort has been focused on the discovery of antiviral drugs.…”

Pyrolysis-GC/MS Analysis of Fast Growing Wood Macaranga Species

“…Some ketones, aldehydes and acetic acid related compounds were also pyrolysis products of cellulose/hemicellulose (Jones et al 2010;Mullen and Boateng, 2008). Lignin also produces small amounts of acetic acid (Carrier et al, 2017), but most of the acetic acid comes from the cellulose and hemicellulose. The relative peak area (RP) of the major compounds (RP>1%) identified in the pyrograms of M. gigantea were calculated and are presented in Table 5.…”

Review on Conversion of Lignin Waste into Value-Added Resources in Tropical Countries

“…The final decomposition temperature in the pyrolysis process is very important as it is directly affecting the end product quality. It is reported that the lignin pyrolysis conversion process encloses a wide range of temperature primarily from 150 °C to 800 °C with the maximum rate of degradation at 360 °C to 400 °C [17]. This thermochemical decomposition process will require the product to be quenched for a complete removal of pyrolysis vapor.…”