Abstract
This work demonstrated that supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is effective as a pre-treatment technology to generate soot particles with the fullerene-like structure and increase syngas yield from extracted residues during coupled microwave activation with gasification. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction removes over half of the fatty and resin acids from needles and branches, whereas the extraction of needles generates greater yields of value-added compounds. The high yields of extractives indicate the effective conversion of waste wood for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals. The wood extraction did not influence the solid residue yields during pyrolysis/gasification emphasizing the significant potential of integrating the extraction process into the holistic biorefinery. Interestingly, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction had a significant effect on the structure and quality of soot particles formed. The differences in the extractives composition led to the formation of needle soot particles with a porous and less ordered nanostructure, whereas the soot branches obtained a ring graphitic structure. The greater yields of steroids and terpenes during the extraction of needles compared to the branches pretreatment indicated the influence of the extractives type on the soot nanostructure.
Highlights
Biomass is a renewable and widely available resource that can be used for heat, power, as a feedstock for liquid fuels and as a sustainable chemical production [1]
Little is known about the effect of supercritical CO2 extraction on the yields and properties of products from high-temperature pyr olysis and gasification
Fuel selection in this study was based on the differences in the ash composition and plant cell compounds
Summary
Biomass is a renewable and widely available resource that can be used for heat, power, as a feedstock for liquid fuels and as a sustainable chemical production [1]. The cost-efficient development of bior efineries depends on feedstock flexibility and effective pre-treatment processes for chemical production in combination with efficient power and heat generation [2]. The pre-treatment processes decrease the water content in feedstock, increase energy density, and generate high value-added products for the chemical industry. Supercritical CO2 extraction can improve the physicochemical properties of solid char from pyrolysis at high temperatures, leading to greater electric conductivity and low reactivity of solid char [5]. Several methods exist for the extraction of high-value mole cules from biomass including conventional organic solvent extraction, hydrodistillation, low-pressure solvent extraction and hydrothermal feedstock processing [7,8,9].
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