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Interaction characteristics and mechanism in the fast co-pyrolysis of cellulose and lignin model compounds

A joint experimental and theoretical study

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Abstract

During biomass fast pyrolysis process, the interactions among biomass components will affect the pyrolytic products distribution. In this study, d-glucose and a β-O-4 type lignin model dimer (LMD, 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,3-diol) were selected as the model compounds of cellulose and lignin. The interaction characteristics and mechanism during their fast co-pyrolysis process were investigated by combined pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py–GC/MS) experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The Py–GC/MS results indicated that during fast co-pyrolysis process, the presence of LMD significantly decreased the formation of levoglucosan (LG) from d-glucose, while promoted the formation of linear carbonyls and furans. Meanwhile, the presence of d-glucose enhanced the decomposition of LMD to generate phenolic compounds. The DFT calculations revealed that d-glucose would interact with a homolysis radical of LMD to form a ten-membered ring transition state. The formed complex transition state changed the energy barriers of certain pyrolytic reactions of d-glucose and LMD, thus affecting the pyrolytic products distribution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51576064, 51676193), Beijing Nova Program (Z171100001117064), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3172030), Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion (FSKLCCA1706) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2016YQ05, 2015ZZD02) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Power Generation Equipment, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Xiao-ning Ye, Qiang Lu, Xiao-yan Jiang, Bin Hu, Wen-tao Li & Chang-qing Dong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Xian-hua Wang

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  1. Xiao-ning Ye
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  2. Qiang Lu
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Correspondence to Qiang Lu or Xian-hua Wang.

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Ye, Xn., Lu, Q., Jiang, Xy. et al. Interaction characteristics and mechanism in the fast co-pyrolysis of cellulose and lignin model compounds. J Therm Anal Calorim 130, 975–984 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6465-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6465-3

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