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Thermal processing of biomass natural fibre wastes by pyrolysis
Author(s) -
Reed Anton R.,
Williams Paul T.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.956
Subject(s) - char , biomass (ecology) , pyrolysis , hemicellulose , pulp and paper industry , activated carbon , cellulose , materials science , thermogravimetric analysis , lignin , waste management , degradation (telecommunications) , carbon fibers , specific surface area , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , agronomy , composite number , adsorption , engineering , biology , telecommunications , catalysis , computer science
Abstract Waste biomass material in the form of natural fibres used in the production of textile products were examined for their potential to produce activated carbon by physical activation. The five biomass types were hemp, flax, jute, coir and abaca. Each biomass was pyrolysed in a fixed bed reactor and the char characterized. The char was subsequently, activated with steam in a char activation reactor. The surface area and porosity of the derived activated carbon was determined. Surface areas of between 770 and 879 m 2 g −1 were achieved. The yield of activated carbon was mostly less than 20 wt% of the original biomass. The five biomass samples were also pyrolysed in a thermogravimetric analyser. The thermal degradation of the biomas samples were discussed in terms of the thermal degradation of the main components of the biomass, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.