Gongxin Dai

Pyrolysis mechanism study of minimally damaged hemicellulose polymers isolated from agricultural waste straw samples

The pyrolysis mechanism of hemicellulose has been investigated using two minimally damaged hemicellulose polymers isolated from two agricultural straw samples. The obtained hemicelluloses have been characterized by multiple methods, and the results showed that they were mainly composed of l-arabino-4-O-methyl-d-glucurono-d-xylan. Their O-acetyl groups and high degrees of polymerization and branching were well preserved. Their pyrolyses were subsequently investigated by TG-FTIR and Py-GC/MS. The evolutions of four typical volatile components and the distributions of eight product species were scrutinized. A DG-DAEM kinetic model was applied to quantify the contributions of two major pyrolytic routes for devolatilization during hemicellulose pyrolysis. A mean activation energy of 150kJ/mol for the formation of volatiles was derived. The thermal stability of each bond in four typical fragments of hemicellulose was assessed by DFT study, and the deduced decomposition pathways were in agreement with experimental analysis.

Effects of torrefaction on hemicellulose structural characteristics and pyrolysis behaviors

The effects of torrefaction on hemicellulose characteristics and its pyrolysis behaviors were studied in detail. The oxygen content decreased significantly after torrefaction, leading to the increase of high heating value. Two-dimensional perturbation correlation analysis based on diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was performed to characterize the structural evolutions. It was found the dehydration of hydroxyls and the dissociation of branches were the main reactions at low torrefaction temperature. When the temperature further increased, the depolymerization of hemicellulose and the fragmentation of monosaccharide residues occurred. The distributed activation energy model with double Gaussian functions based on reaction-order model was used to investigate the pyrolysis kinetics. The results showed that torrefaction enhanced the activation energy for degradation reactions while lowered that for condensation reactions, and increased the devolatilization contribution of condensation reactions. Besides, torrefaction decreased the yields of typical pyrolytic products, such as acids, furans, alicyclic ketones and so on.