A comparative study on the pyrolysis of metal- and ash-enriched wood and the combustion properties of the gained char

Zsuzsa Mayer*, Andreas Apfelbacher, Andreas Hornung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the pyrolysis behaviour of metal-contaminated wood and the combustion properties of char derived from wood pyrolysis. Seven metals (Na, Mg, Ca, Zn, Cd, Pb and Fe(III)) were introduced to willow in cation form by ion-exchange and the thermal behaviour of demineralised samples and samples with additional ash were also investigated. The results show that the char yield increased from 21% to 24-28% and levoglucosan yield in vapour phase decreased from 88% to 62-29% after the addition of inorganic compounds, even though the metal binding capacity of wood varied from one metal ion to another. While char yield seems to be effected mainly by the concentration of the metal ions, levoglucosan yield was more dependent on the ionic species especially when sodium ions were present. When combustion experiments were carried out with char made of the metal enriched wood, two consecutive steps were observed, both effected by the presence of inorganic compounds. The first step was identified as the release and combustion of volatiles, while the second peak of the burning profile is the actual combustion of the fixed carbon. The burnout temperatures, estimated ignition indices and the conversion indicate that the type and not the amount of metal ions were the determining factors during the second step of combustion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)196-202
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
Volume96
Early online date21 Apr 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2012

Bibliographical note

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Mayer, Z. A. , Apfelbacher, A. , & Hornung, A. . A comparative study on the pyrolysis of metal- and ash-enriched wood and the combustion properties of the gained char. Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis, vol. 96 (2012) DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2012.04.007

Keywords

  • ash
  • char combustion
  • ion-exchange
  • levoglucosan
  • metals
  • wood pyrolysis

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