Microwave assisted pyrolysis of Kraft lignin in single mode high-Q resonant cavities: Degradation kinetics, product chemical composition, and numerical modeling

Divine B. Nde, Pranjali D. Muley, Cristina M. Sabliov, Sue E. Nokes, Dorin Boldor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Useful fuels and chemicals can be produced from lignin by microwave-assisted pyrolysis, but a dearth of understanding of this process impedes its successful implementation. Continuous mass loss kinetics of the pyrolysis of Kraft lignin pellets were carried out in an innovative reactor system comprised of a high-Q cylindrical microwave resonant cavity and a specially designed quartz reactor, in the temperature range of 300–700 °C. Multiphysics numerical simulations indicated that both absorbed power and resulting temperatures profiles are heavily dependent on position of the sample relative to the electric field. Kraft lignin degradation (5 g samples) was complete in about 40 s, which was much faster than conventionally heated reactors. Activation energies (5–22 kJ/mol) and pre-exponential factors (0.06–0.64 s−1) were indicative that the process is low in energy consumption. At higher temperatures, phenols and phenolics were the major constituents of the bio-oil. A reliable method of obtaining microwave-assisted mass loss kinetics continuously is established.

Original languageEnglish
Article number113754
JournalEnergy Conversion and Management
Volume230
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 15 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to recognize LSU’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, LSU Agricultural Center, and USDA NIFA Hatch Program (project LAB #94443) for their support of this project. Acknowledgements are extended to Dr. Lavrent Khachatryan, at LSU Department of Chemistry for his insights on the manuscript, Ms. Connie David at LSU’s Department of Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility. Financial support was provided by US NSF EPSCoR OIA (award #1632854), and Louisiana Board of Regents (Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund (award #LEQSF (2015-17)-ENH-TR-01). Published with the approval of the Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript # 2020-232-34822.

Funding Information:
The authors would like to recognize LSU's Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, LSU Agricultural Center, and USDA NIFA Hatch Program (project LAB #94443) for their support of this project. Acknowledgements are extended to Dr. Lavrent Khachatryan, at LSU Department of Chemistry for his insights on the manuscript, Ms. Connie David at LSU's Department of Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility. Financial support was provided by US NSF EPSCoR OIA (award #1632854), and Louisiana Board of Regents (Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund (award #LEQSF (2015-17)-ENH-TR-01). Published with the approval of the Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript # 2020-232-34822. Electronic supplementary information of this work can be found in the online version of the paper.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Kraft lignin
  • Mass loss kinetics
  • Microwave
  • Numerical modelling
  • Pyrolysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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