Biocarbon Production Using Three-Stage Pyrolysis and Its Preliminary Suitability to the Iron and Steel Industry

Mika Pahnila (), Aki Koskela, Petri Sulasalmi and Timo Fabritius
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Mika Pahnila: Process Metallurgy Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
Aki Koskela: Process Metallurgy Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
Petri Sulasalmi: Process Metallurgy Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
Timo Fabritius: Process Metallurgy Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: There has been a rising interest in the iron and steel industry in replacing fossil-based carbon carriers in their processes because they are the main origin of the anthropogenic carbon emissions within the industry. The use of bio-based carbon carriers could be one solution to partly tackle this challenge. Conventionally, biocarbon is produced by pyrolysis with fixed heating rate, pyrolysis temperature, and retention time. Although the mechanisms behind the formation of biocarbon and the decomposition temperatures of the main compounds of biomass-based materials are known, this knowledge is rarely being utilized in the design of commercial pyrolysis reactors, even though the pyrolysis mechanism-based approach increases the biocarbon yield. In this study, the mechanistic pathway of carbonization of lignocellulosic biomass is taken into account to produce biocarbon with higher yield and quality than conventional pyrolysis with the same process time. Results show that when the process time is the same in both methods, segmented pyrolysis increases biocarbon yield up to 5.4% within a pyrolysis temperature range from 300 °C to 900 °C. Also, fixed carbon yield increased 1.5% in this temperature area. When using segmented pyrolysis, the most suitable pyrolysis temperature is 700 °C based on the characteristics of the produced biocarbon.

Keywords: biocarbon; biocarbon yield; biomass; fixed carbon yield; higher heating value; multi-stage pyrolysis; pyrolysis; stepped pyrolysis; thermochemical conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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