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Investigation on the water-washing of corn straw for de-ash, de-chlorination, and increase of heating value through response surface methodology

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Abstract

The contents of ash and chlorine, and the heating value are important factors for the utilization of biomass. In this work, the washing of corn straw with water for de-ash, de-chlorination, and increase of the heating value was investigated. Before washing, the corn straw was ground to powders and fractionated into different particle sizes. The particles less than 38 μm were found in higher content of chlorine, and thus were removed and only the powders in the range of 38–250 μm were examined. Three independent variables of the liquid/solid ratio (L/S), the washing time (t), and the washing temperature (T) were investigated in the washing experiments. A mathematical model was constructed by response surface methodology (RSM). The results showed that the parameter of L/S was most significant, followed by the order of t, the interaction between L/S and t, and T. The reliability of the model was verified by analysis of variance and by comparison with laboratory results. According to the model prediction, the optimal conditions of L/S, washing time, and temperature were respectively determined as 39.98 mL/g, 11.55 min, and 30 °C. The details of the washing influence were further investigated, by characterizations of the eluate and the solid samples before and after washing.

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Funding

We acknowledge financial support by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFC1906700).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Multi-Phase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wenkai Zhang, Ze Wang, Wenli Song & Songgeng Li

  2. Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wenkai Zhang, Ze Wang, Wenli Song & Songgeng Li

  3. Yunnan Water Investment Company Limited, Kunming, 650106, China

    Cuiguang Yang

Authors
  1. Wenkai Zhang
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  2. Ze Wang
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  3. Cuiguang Yang
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  4. Wenli Song
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Correspondence to Ze Wang.

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Statement of novelty

The fraction of particles less than 38 μm is found rich in ash and chlorine, and is suggested to be eliminated before washing, which is advantageous for reducing the consumption of water. A mathematical model is built with response surface methodology. Through the model analysis, the influence of liquid-to-solid ratio in the range of 10–40 mL/g is found most significant for the water-washing of the powders of corn straw (38–250 μm), while the influence of temperature (T) and the interactions between T and other variables are weak. The eluate is analyzed with ion chromatography (IC), and HPO42− is found much extracted from corn straw. The microscopic surface of the corn straw becomes more smooth after washing.

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Zhang, W., Wang, Z., Yang, C. et al. Investigation on the water-washing of corn straw for de-ash, de-chlorination, and increase of heating value through response surface methodology. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 2129–2140 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02479-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02479-0

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