Fast pyrolysis utilizes biomass to produce a product that is used both as an energy source and a feedstock for chemical production. Considerable efforts have been made to convert wood biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals since the oil crisis in mid-1970s. This review focuses on the recent developments in the wood pyrolysis and reports the characteristics of the resulting bio-oils, which are the main products of fast wood pyrolysis. Virtually any form of biomass can be considered for fast pyrolysis. Most work has been performed on wood, because of its consistency and comparability between tests. However, nearly 100 types of biomass have been tested, ranging from agricultural wastes such as straw, olive pits, and nut shells to energy crops such as miscanthus and sorghum. Forestry wastes such as bark and thinnings and other solid wastes, including sewage sludge and leather wastes, have also been studied. In this review, the main (although not exclusive) emphasis has been given to wood. The literature on woo...

Pyrolysis of Wood/Biomass for Bio-oil: A Critical Review

https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/1018032.pdf

Polymer nanotechnology: Nanocomposites

Molecular self-assembly is the spontaneous association of molecules under equilibrium conditions into stable, structurally well-defined aggregates joined by noncovalent bonds. Molecular self-assembly is ubiquitous in biological systems and underlies the formation of a wide variety of complex biological structures. Understanding self-assembly and the associated noncovalent interactions that connect complementary interacting molecular surfaces in biological aggregates is a central concern in structural biochemistry. Self-assembly is also emerging as a new strategy in chemical synthesis, with the potential of generating nonbiological structures with dimensions of 1 to 10(2) nanometers (with molecular weights of 10(4) to 10(10) daltons). Structures in the upper part of this range of sizes are presently inaccessible through chemical synthesis, and the ability to prepare them would open a route to structures comparable in size (and perhaps complementary in function) to those that can be prepared by microlithography and other techniques of microfabrication.

Molecular self-assembly and nanochemistry: A chemical strategy for the synthesis of nanostructures

A review on polymer–layered silicate nanocomposites

The science of the total environment

Introduction The DOE prefers the retrofitting of dry sorbent injection upstream of either an ESP or an fabric filter baghouse to further control mercury emission in coal-fired power plants. This promising technology has the widest potential application for controlling mercury emissions in plants that are not equipped with FGD scrubbers, which includes 75% of all U.S. plants. However, unlike the successful carbon injection for mercury control in waste incinerators, which produces one or two orders of magnitude lower mercury emissions, sorbent injection used in coal-fired utility boiler faces many challenges. Large quantities of PAC must be injected, leading to high costs if high removal efficiency is required. In this study, two new highly effective, low-cost mercury sorbents including IGCC char and woodceramic will be used to inject in the simulated duct in a lab-scale facility with a low pressure drop turbulence mixer to enhance the mass transfer of mercury capture process.

The lab-scale sorbent injection testing on mercury capture with follow-up solid-gas mixture

The present invention provides a method for the oxidation of Hg0 in coal fired flue gas to form Hg2+ which is absorbed by the scrubber solution in wet-FGD or SDA, or adsorbed by the fly ash and subsequently removed from the flue stack with ESP and FF, and/or any other means as are known in the art for SOx, NOx and particulate removals. The addition of a second flue gas stream having a halogen and fly ash therein simultaneously with said hydrogen halogen or interhalogens into a coal fired flue gas further increases the oxidation of Hg0 to Hg2+.

Abatement of mercury in flue gas

This paper presents data from a recent investigation of the character of ash deposition in the convective zone (547°C to 338°C) in a 0.1 MWth bench-scale FBC system at Western Kentucky University. The ash deposit samples were collected during co-firing experiments using two coals with various blends of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF). A low sulfur coal, a high sulfur coal, and commercially available RDF sample were selected to investigate the influence of sulfur and chlorine in the fuels on the formation of ash deposits. Limestone was added to the combustor as the bed material and desulfurization sorbent. The results showed that the formation of ash deposits had a close relationship to the active fine lime particles produced from the limestone. An increase in the concentration of SOx in the flue gas restricts the formation of the ash deposits because of the reaction between SOx and the fine lime particles, which drops the adhesive force of the fine lime particles by reducing the contact area among the particles. With an increase in the content of the RDF in the fuels, the rate of deposit of ash decreased because of the higher content of chlorine and aluminum, which also decreased the contact area among the particles, leading to a low deposition rate of the fly ash.Copyright © 2003 by ASME

Characterization of Ash Deposition During Co-Combustion of Coal With Refuse-Derived Fuels in a Pilot FBC Facility

Structural characterization of lignite coal and char with CaCl2

Due to its harm to human health, more and more concern has been put on the mercury emitted from power stations burning coal. Both of the US EPA and European Commission have set regulations on the mercury emission from the electric utilities. China also pays more and more attention to the mercury emission and starts to sponsor the projects relative to the mercury emission. To reduce mercury emission, sorbent injection upstream the ESP or bag-house is one of the recommended methods. Before a sorbent is used in practice, its mercury capture ability needs to be evaluated. A lab-scale multiphase flow reactor was set up to conduct such evaluation. The experimental results show that the system can provide accurate information of sorbent evaluation under flue gas atmosphere. There was significant difference between the mercury removal efficiencies of tested sorbents, varying from 95% down to 23%. SO2 in the flue gas could inhibit the mercury oxidization and capture. The sorbents tested has higher removal efficiency on the elemental mercury than on oxidized mercury. The sorbent would have higher mercury capturing efficiency with higher injection rate and longer residence time when other conditions were held constant.

Wei-Ping Pan

Papers

The lab-scale sorbent injection testing on mercury capture with follow-up solid-gas mixture

Abatement of mercury in flue gas

Characterization of Ash Deposition During Co-Combustion of Coal With Refuse-Derived Fuels in a Pilot FBC Facility

Structural characterization of lignite coal and char with CaCl2

Experimental Research for the Effect of Sorbents on the Mercury Removal