Abstract
HCN (hydrocyanic acid) and NH3 (ammonia) (including HNCO (isocyanic acid)) released during rapid pyrolysis of three biomass samples (rice straw, chinar leaves, pine sawdust) and a nitrogen rich material (soybean cake) were measured. The pyrolysis runs were conducted at 600−1200 °C using a high-frequency furnace. Much more HCN than NH3 was released in the biomass runs while the reverse was observed in the soybean cake runs. Because lignin was a common constituent of biomass cells and nearly absent in soybean, the effect of its content on HCN release from the biomass was determined. A strong correlation was established for each biomass sample suggesting that lignin may promote formation of heterocyclic nitrogenous compounds which then decompose to form HCN. HCN release and char/tar-N formation decreased at a higher pyrolysis temperature. Pyrolysis at >1000 °C is desirable since most nitrogen in the biomass will be converted to N2 with <7% released as HCN and NH3.
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