Influence of pyrolysis temperature on physicochemical properties of biochar obtained from the fast pyrolysis of pitch pine (Pinus rigida)

Published Date

August 2012, Vol.118:158–162, doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.04.094

Title 

Influence of pyrolysis temperature on physicochemical properties of biochar obtained from the fast pyrolysis of pitch pine (Pinus rigida)

• Author 

• Kwang Ho Kim ^a
• Jae-Young Kim ^a
• Tae-Su Cho ^b
• Joon Weon Choi ^a,,

• aDepartment of Forest Sciences, Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea
• bDiv. of Wood Chemistry and Microbiology, Korea Forest Research Institute, 57 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-712, Republic of Korea

Received 1 March 2012. Revised 24 April 2012. Accepted 25 April 2012. Available online 3 May 2012.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of pyrolysis temperature on the physicochemical properties and structure of biochar. Biochar was produced by fast pyrolysis of pitch pine (Pinus rigida) using a fluidized bed reactor at different pyrolysis temperatures (300, 400 and 500 °C). The produced biochars were characterized by elemental analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, particle size distributions, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The yield of biochar decreased sharply from 60.7% to 14.4%, based on the oven-dried biomass weight, when the pyrolysis temperature rose from 300 °C to 500 °C. In addition, biochars were further carbonized with an increase in pyrolysis temperature and the char’s remaining carbons were rearranged in stable form. The experimental results suggested that the biochar obtained at 400 and 500 °C was composed of a highly ordered aromatic carbon structure.

Highlights

► Biochar was obtained as byproducts during fast pyrolysis of pitch pine at various temperatures. ► Yield of biochar decreased sharply from 60.7% to 14.4% with pyrolysis temperature. ► Carbons in the biochars were rearranged to highly ordered aromatic form.

Keywords

• Fast pyrolysis
• Pitch pine
• Biochar
• Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
• Aromatic carbon structure

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