Abstract
Production of biomass crops is competing with food production in terms of arable land, therefore, attention is being given to the establishment of dedicated energy crops on marginal lands. While more attention has been given to C 4 plants like Miscanthus and Switchgrass due to their high productivity and ability to withstand unfavorable soil conditions, Arundo donax (a C 3 plant) has also been proven to thrive well on marginal lands and has high productivity. In this study, pyrolysis of Arundo donax harvested on a reclaimed mine land in West Virginia was carried out in a batch reactor at a temperature of 500 °C for 30 min and the pyrolysis products were collected and characterized. Pyrolysis products distribution was 30.12%, 45.62% and 24.26% for the biochar, bio-oil and non-condensable gases, respectively. Calorific values of the biomass and the biochar were found to be 18.96 and 29.51 MJ/kg, respectively. The pH of the biochar showed that it is alkaline in nature while the pH of the bio-oil showed that it is acidic in nature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 44-53 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Industrial Crops and Products |
| Volume | 133 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Arundo
- Bio-oil
- Biochar
- Carbon
- Pyrolysis