Influence of Organic Acid Leaching on Flash Pyrolysis Kinetics of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Experimental measurements were performed using a cyclonic TGA device to study the effects of organic acid leaching of biomass on the flash pyrolysis kinetics. The cyclonic TGA can mimic the flash pyrolysis process by virtue of its extremely high heating rates for small particles. Further, biomass leached under varying leaching process conditions such as temperature, residence time and acid concentrations were investigated for the kinetic study. The biomass was sieved to particle sizes of 300-500 µm prior to leaching and the same samples were then used to perform cyclonic TGA experiments at pyrolysis temperatures between 475-550°C. The results showed that the leached samples have a lower reaction rate and a higher activation energy compared to the raw biomass. This findings were generally in line with the hypothesis that removal of inorganic matter from biomass reduces the rate of volatile release. This means longer reaction times or higher operating temperatures are required in large scale flash pyrolysis reactors.