Oxidative Pyrolysis of Typical Volatile Model Compounds Under Low Oxygen Equivalence Ratios During Oxidative Pyrolysis of Biomass

Liying Wang, Dan Lin, Dongjing Liu, Xing Xie, Shihong Zhang () and Bin Li ()
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Liying Wang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Dan Lin: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Dongjing Liu: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Xing Xie: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Shihong Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Bin Li: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the oxidative pyrolysis of biomass volatiles with a particular focus on the formation of liquid products. Furfural, hydroxyacetone, and 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde were chosen as volatile model compounds. The impacts of the oxygen equivalence ratio (ER, 0–15%) and temperature (400–500 °C) on the product composition and distribution were examined using a two-stage quartz-tube reactor. The results showed that volatile pyrolysis was limited at the lower temperature of 400 °C even with oxygen introduction, while it could be significantly promoted at 500 °C as illustrated by the observed great decrease in the GC-MS peak areas of the volatile compounds especially under an oxidative atmosphere. For instance, the peak area of 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde at 500 °C under an ER of 4% was only ~9% of that at 400 °C. Oxygen introduction enhanced the volatile decomposition with the formation of mainly permanent gases (although not given in the study) rather than liquid products, but distinct impacts were obtained for varied volatile compounds possibly due to their different chemical structures and autoignition temperatures. From the perspective of liquid product formation, furfural would undergo the cleavage of C-C/C-O bonds to form linear intermediates and subsequent aromatization to generate aromatics (benzene and benzofuran). The presence of oxygen could enhance the oxidative destruction of the C-C/C-O bonds and the removal of O from the molecules to form simple aromatics such as benzene, phenol, and toluene. Hydroxyacetone mainly underwent C-C/C-O cleavage that was further enhanced in the presence of oxygen; the resultant intermediates would recombine to generate acetoin and 2,3-pentanedione. A higher ER would directly oxidize the alcoholic hydroxyl group (-OH) into an aldehyde group (-CHO) to form methyl glyoxal, while 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde mainly underwent cleavage and recombination of bonds connected with the benzene ring including aldehyde group (-CHO), C Ar -O, C Methoxy -O bonds, thus forming 1,2-dimethoxybenzene, toluene, and 3-hydroxybenzadehyde. This study provides more fundamental insights into the homogeneous oxidation of volatiles during the oxidative fast pyrolysis of biomass, facilitating the deployment of this technology.

Keywords: oxidative pyrolysis; volatiles; oxygen equivalence ratio; pyrolysis temperature (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: 2025
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