Bio-oil production from fast pyrolysis of waste furniture sawdust in a fluidized bed

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.06.003

Bioresource Technology

Volume 101, Issue 1, Supplement, January 2010, Pages S91-S96

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.06.003 Get rights and content

Abstract

The amount of waste furniture generated in Korea was over 2.4 million tons in the past 3 years, which can be used for renewable energy or fuel feedstock production. Fast pyrolysis is available for thermo-chemical conversion of the waste wood mostly into bio-oil. In this work, fast pyrolysis of waste furniture sawdust was investigated under various reaction conditions (pyrolysis temperature, particle size, feed rate and flow rate of fluidizing medium) in a fluidized-bed reactor. The optimal pyrolysis temperature for increased yields of bio-oil was 450 °C. Excessively smaller or larger feed size negatively affected the production of bio-oil. Higher flow and feeding rates were more effective for the production of bio-oil, but did not greatly affect the bio-oil yields within the tested ranges. The use of product gas as the fluidizing medium had a potential for increased bio-oil yields.

Introduction

The biodegradable fractions in wastes like paper, wood, and food residue are important sources of biomass for renewable-energy production through thermal or biological conversion. While direct combustion is the dominant method applied to mixed wastes, specific streams of industrial wastes with high energy content could be converted into fuel feedstock using advanced techniques, such as pyrolysis and gasification. One example of such materials is waste furniture, of which over 2.4 million tons were generated in Korea in the past 3 years (Yoo, 2008). Although the wood in waste furniture could have been treated with paint, surface coating, or pesticides, unlike fresh wood or forestry residues, it usually contains less moisture and is available for pyrolysis and gasification after size reduction.

Fast pyrolysis is an attractive technology for biomass, from which bio-oil is the preferred product having a great potential for use as fuel oil in industry, or as transport fuel. Fast pyrolysis refers to pyrolysis at temperatures of about 500 °C, with very high heating rates (>10³ °C/s) and a short vapor residence time (<2 s), which can maximize the conversion of biomass into liquid (bio-oil) products. Many researchers have investigated the fast pyrolysis of different biomass materials in different reactor systems. The yield of bio-oil is as high as 80 wt.% of the biomass input (Bridgwater, 1999), and its heating value is lower, ranging from 14 to 18 MJ/kg (Lu et al., 2009). Chiaramonti et al. (2007) reviewed the use of fast pyrolysis oil for power generation in gas turbines, diesel engines, and large-scale power plants by cofiring. Although there are difficulties due to the nature of the oil, such as inhomogeneity, high viscosity, and corrosiveness, no major technical problems have been identified, especially for cofiring at power plants. The biomass type for typical pyrolysis studies has been woody materials, but recent studies have reported fast pyrolysis for various agricultural wastes, such as corn, sunflower, olive, straw, and rice husk (Yanik et al., 2007, Zabaniotou et al., 2008, Zheng, 2007; Tsai et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2008). Few studies, however, have reported on the fast pyrolysis of waste wood, such as post-consumed furniture, while many have reported on the slow pyrolysis (Helsen et al., 1998, Phan et al., 2008) and thermogravimetric analysis (Reina et al., 1998).

In the present study, fast pyrolysis of waste furniture sawdust was carried out in a fluidized bed to evaluate the technical feasibility of applying this technology to waste furniture. The key pyrolysis parameters, such as the reaction temperature, feed size, flow rate, feeding rate, and fluidizing medium, were varied, and the product yields and the properties of the bio-oils were investigated.

Section snippets

Feedstock

A waste furniture sawdust sample was supplied by a waste wood treatment facility in Korea. Table 1 presents the results of the ultimate and proximate analyses of the sawdust sample. Ultimate analysis was carried out using an automatic elemental analyzer (Flash EA 1112 Series CHNS-O analyzer, CE Instrument) and proximate analysis was performed according to Korean Standard Methods of Waste Quality. Each test case was repeated in triplicate and the average results were taken. The proximate

Effects of the pyrolysis conditions on the product distribution

Fig. 2 shows the product distribution as a function of the pyrolysis temperature for Runs 1–4. As the pyrolysis progressed when the temperature was increased, the char yield decreased from about 35.8% at 400 °C to 21.3% at 550 °C, releasing more pyrolysis vapors. The bio-oil yield, which was the condensable phase of the pyrolysis vapors, maximized to 58.1% at 450 °C and decreased at the higher temperatures. This was due to the secondary reactions of the heavy-molecular-weight compounds in the

Conclusions

Fast pyrolysis of sawdust from waste furniture was investigated using a small fluidized-bed reactor for different temperatures, flow rates of fluidizing agent and particle sizes. The optimal pyrolysis temperature for the production of bio-oil from waste furniture sawdust was found to be 450 °C, with a particle size of 0.7 mm. A higher gas flow and higher feeding rates were found to be more favorable for the production of bio-oil due to the reduced vapor residence times. The use of the

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Bio-oil production from fast pyrolysis of waste furniture sawdust in a fluidized bed

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Feedstock

Effects of the pyrolysis conditions on the product distribution

Conclusions

Powder Technol.

J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis

Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev.

Waste Manage.

Fuel

J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis

J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis

Energ. Conv. Manage.

Biomass Bioenerg.

Chem. Eng. J.

Fuel Process Technol.

J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis