Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis of Pine Wood Sawdust Mixed with Activated Carbon for Bio-Oil and Bio-Char Production

• Main Authors: Anissa Khelfa, Filipe Augusto Rodrigues, Mohamed Koubaa, Eugène Vorobiev
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: activated carbon; biomass; microwave absorber; pine wood sawdust; pyrolysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/11/1437

Pyrolysis of pine wood sawdust was carried out using microwave-heating technology in the presence of activated carbon (AC). Experimental conditions were of 20 min processing time, 10 wt.% of AC, and a microwave power varying from 100 to 800 W. The results obtained showed that the microwave absorber allowed increasing the bio-oil yield up to 2 folds by reducing the charcoal fraction. The maximum temperature reached was 505 °C at 800 W. The higher heating values (HHV) of the solid residues ranged from 17.6 to 30.3 MJ/kg. The highest HHV was obtained for the sample heated at 800 W with 10 wt.% of AC, which was 33% higher than the non-charged sample heated at the same power. Furthermore, the addition of AC allowed showing the probable catalytic effect of the AC in the charged sample pyrolysis bio-oils.