Hydrothermal Transformation of Sawdust into Synthetic Coke-Mechanism and Influence of Experimental Parameters

The influence of temperature, pressure, and time of interaction on the yield, caloric power, and elemental composition of solid product of hydrothermal transformation of sawdust into synthetic coke has been studied. With other parameters fixed, transformation of sawdust occurs between 350C and 400C. Further increase of temperature up to 580C as well as pressure above 80 atm, result in the increase of the yield of synthetic coke. Rate of formation of coke is governed by precipitation rate of asphaltene liquid associates, while the activation energy of the process is close to the activation energy of diffusion of asphaltene molecules in reaction environment.