Impact of Feedstock Composition on Pyrolysis of Low-Cost, Protein- and Lignin-Rich Biomass: A Review

Publication date: Available online 3 February 2020Source: Journal of Analytical and Applied PyrolysisAuthor(s): Feng Cheng, Hengameh Bayat, Umakanta Jena, Catherine E. BrewerAbstractBio-energy is a major component of the global renewable energy market due to the low requirement for energy infrastructure modification and the high bio-energy productivity. Bio-ethanol production from sugar-rich biomass, biodiesel production from lipid-rich biomass, and biogas production from volatile-matter-dense feedstock have been commercialized. A substantial fraction of biomass waste, however, is still discarded due to high processing costs and low end-product values. This fraction includes agricultural wastes, dedicated plants, spent grains, de-oiled seed cakes, forestry wastes, food wastes, municipal wastes, and digestated residues. Such wastes generally contain fewer digestible compounds (e.g. fatty acids and sugars), and more proteins and recalcitrant lignin, which require more severe reaction conditions to extract valuable compounds. Pyrolysis is a potential inexpensive extraction option for these compounds with the needed reaction severity, easy operation, and high compatibility with diverse feedstocks. Here, pyrolysis reactions of protein- and lignin-rich biomass wastes are compared in terms of feedstock composition, degradation mechanism, and yield and quality of bio-oils. Overall, agricultural wastes, dedicated plants, seed cakes, digestates, and municipal wastes are recommended for...

Source: Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis - February 3, 2020 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research