Selective fast pyrolysis of biomass impregnated with ZnCl_2: Furfural production together with acetic acid and activated carbon as by-products

摘要

Fast pyrolysis of biomass materials impregnated with ZnCl_2 offered a promising way to obtain a liquid product rich in furfural (FF) and acetic acid (AA), and the pyrolytic solids could be used as the precursors to prepare activated carbons (ACs). In this study, a lab-scale fast pyrolysis set was designed and used for the quantitative production of the three chemicals. The maximum FF was produced from the corncob impregnated with at least 15 wt% ZnCl_2 and at the pyrolysis temperature around 340℃, with the yield of more than 8 wt% compared with only 0.49 wt% from the raw corncob. Meanwhile, AA of around 4 wt% could be obtained. The content of the FF and AA was over 50wt% and 25 wt% on the water-free basis of the pyrolytic liquids. In addition, ACs were prepared from the pyrolytic solids, and they exhibited similar properties as those prepared from direct activation of ZnCl_2-impregnated biomass materials.