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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Thesis
Biomass Acid Carbonization: A Strategy to Maximize Carbon Retention in Biochars
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000003333
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/122240
Abstract
The use of lignocellulosic waste material has become a reliable tool to mitigate the effects of climate change. The conversion of biomass to biochar through pyrolysis has many benefits. In this thesis I used phosphoric acid as a dehydration catalyst to pretreat raw biomass to produce a solid fuel intermediate containing most of the carbon (C) from the raw biomass. Four biomasses were studied: Forest Residue Crumbles, Hammer-milled Forest Residue, Poplar Crumbles and Hammer-milled Poplar. Feedstocks were pretreated with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) at seven different ratios: 7.8, 4.05, 0.85, 0.4, 0.085, 0.04 and 0 wt.%. The thermogravimetric studies were done at four heating rates of 5, 10, 20, and 40 ºC/min. The thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric data were analyzed using the Friedman method. The curves showed a clear offset of biomass degradation that occurred at lower temperatures when high phosphoric acid ratios were present. The results from thermal studies paved the way for the preliminary acid carbonization studies in the spoon reactor. The pretreated biomass was pyrolyzed to obtain the yield and the (C) carbon conversion efficiency information. The results showed a clear increase in yield and carbon retention parameters for the samples pyrolyzed at lower temperatures (300ºC) and higher acid rates (7.8 wt.%). Given the best results from the preliminary acid bath carbonization studies, auger reactor studies were done. Here the results were similar, indicating that the positive results from acid carbonization can be done on a larger scale. This research contributes to the understanding of how biochar sinks carbon and potentially, to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Details
- Title
- Biomass Acid Carbonization: A Strategy to Maximize Carbon Retention in Biochars
- Creators
- Jose Alejandro Almodovar
- Contributors
- Manuel Garcia-Perez (Advisor)Nigel B Pickering (Committee Member)Kirti Rajogopalan (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Biological Systems Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 101
- Identifiers
- 99900652101801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis