Production of bio-oil with reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons via continuous pyrolysis of biobutanol process derived waste lignin

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 384; p. 121231
• Main Authors: Lee, Heejin, Jae, Jungho, Lee, Hyung Won, Park, Seyoung, Jeong, Jaehun, Lam, Su Shiung, Park, Young-Kwon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.02.2020
• Subjects: Biobutanol process; Butanols - chemistry; Lignin - chemistry; PAHs; Plant Oils; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - analysis; Polyphenols; Pyrolysis; Rotary kiln reactor; Waste lignin; Waste Products; Pyrolysis; Rotary kiln reactor; PAHs; Biobutanol process; Waste lignin
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121231

•Pyrolysis of biobutanol-derived lignin was performed for the first time.•Rotary kiln reactor with α-alumina ball was used for the lignin pyrolysis.•Ball milling effect of α-alumina prevented char foaming/agglomeration.•Decarboxylation is the main deoxygenation pathway in the rotary kiln reactor.•Rotary kiln produced oil with reduced amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The fast pyrolysis of waste lignin derived from biobutanol production process was performed to determine the optimal pyrolysis conditions and pyrolysis product properties. Four types of pyrolysis reactors, e.g.: micro-scale pyrolyzer-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, lab and bench scale fixed bed (FB) reactors, and bench scale rotary kiln (RK) reactor, were employed to compare the pyrolysis reaction conditions and product properties obtained from different reactors. The yields of char, oil, and gas obtained from lab scale and bench scale reactor were almost similar compared to FB reactor. RK reactor produced desirable bio-oil with much reduced yield of poly aromatic hydrocarbons (cancer precursor) due to its higher cracking reaction efficiency. In addition, char agglomeration and foaming of lignin pyrolysis were greatly restricted by using RK reactor compared to the FB reactor.