Rapid-cooling, continuous-feed pyrolyzer for biomass processing. Preparation of levoglucosan from cellulose and starch

Gu Joong Kwon, Dae Young Kim, Satoshi Kimura, Shigenori Kuga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

Novel design of pyrolyzer was developed for efficient collection of primary degradation products from biomass. The apparatus consists of a pair of horizontal belt conveyers facing to each other, in a reduced-pressure chamber with pressures ranging from 600 Pa to 8 kPa. The lower belt feeds the powder of raw material to the pyrolysis region heated up to 450 °C; the upper belt facing the heated part is cooled from the top to condense the evaporated products with minimal secondary degradation. A continuous-feed pyrolyzer for the production of organic liquids from cellulosic biomass has been demonstrated at a laboratory-scale of 5-10 g/h of dry feed in temperature of 410-450 °C. Treatment of cellulose and starch gave high yields of 1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranoside (levoglucosan). The yield depended on the heater temperature and the residual air pressure in the chamber. The maximum yield of levoglucosan from microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) was approx. 70% (analytical value) under residual air of 5 kPa.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
Volume80
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2007

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Cellulose
  • Levoglucosan
  • Pyrolysis
  • Starch

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