Article

Slow pyrolysis of xylan as pentose model compound for hardwood hemicellulose: A study of the catalytic effect of Na ions

Slow pyrolysis of xylan as pentose model compound for hardwood hemicellulose: A study of the catalytic effect of Na ions

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

P. Giudicianni; V. Gargiulo; M. Costa — 2018 — Elsevier

Key information

Authors:

P. Giudicianni; V. Gargiulo; M. Alfè; R. Ragucci; A.I. Ferreiro (Ana Isabel Marques Ferreiro); M. Rabaçal (Miriam Estefânia Rodrigues Fernandes Rabaçal); M. Costa (Mário Manuel Gonçalves da Costa)

Published in

12/04/2018

Abstract

In this study, the effect of sodium (Na) ions on the slow pyrolysis of hemicellulose is assessed using xylan as a representative of hardwood hemicellulose. Thermogravimetric analysis and pyrolysis tests were conducted at slow heating rates (5 K/min) up to 973 K on commercial xylan, demineralized xylan and Na+ doped xylan samples. Commercial xylan was demineralized by using a cation-exchange resin to reduce the presence of inherent inorganics (mainly alkali or alkaline-earth metals). Subsequently, the demineralized xylan was doped with controlled amounts of Na ions (0.4, 0.5 and 1.1 wt.%) by using cation-exchange resin in Na+ form. The pyrolysis products yields (gas, liquid and char) and the composition of the gas mixture were quantified for each sample. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis were performed to quantify the main species in the liquid products. The results, discussed considering of the available hemicellulose pyrolysis models, demonstrate that the presence of Na+ greatly affects the pyrolytic behavior of the samples, whereas only slight quantitative effects are observed on the solid residues yields, which increase with Na+ concentration. Furthermore, Na+ favors the ring opening reactions (increasing the production of CO2, CO and hydroxy ketones) and the rearrangement of the xylose ring to form furan derivatives. The reaction pathways competing with 2-furaldehyde production mechanism could explain the non-monotonous trend of this compound as function of Na+ content.

Publication details

Authors in the community:

Publication version

AO - Author's Original

Publisher

Elsevier

Link to the publisher's version

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165237018309409

Title of the publication container

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

First page or article number

266

Last page

275

Volume

137

DOI

10.1016/j.jaap.2018.12.004

Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)

mechanical-engineering - Mechanical engineering

Keywords

  • Xylan
  • Hemicellulose
  • Pyrolysis
  • Demineralization
  • catalysis
  • Na

Publication language (ISO code)

eng - English

Rights type:

Only metadata available

Creative Commons license

CC-BY-NC-ND - CC-BY-NC-ND