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Effect of Temperature on Biochar Product Yield from Selected Lignocellulosic

Biomass in a Pyrolysis Process

Article  in  Waste and Biomass Valorization · September 2012

DOI: 10.1007/s12649-012-9118-6

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Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318
DOI 10.1007/s12649-012-9118-6
ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of Temperature on Biochar Product Yield from Selected
Lignocellulosic Biomass in a Pyrolysis Process
Isaac Femi Titiladunayo • Armando G. McDonald
Olorunnisola Peter Fapetu
Received: 28 February 2012 / Accepted: 12 April 2012 / Published online: 22 May 2012
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract In this work selected biomass (Afzelium Afri-
cana (apa wood), Milicia excels (iroko wood), and Elaeis
guineensis (palm kernel shell)) were converted to char,
liquid, and gaseous products in a fixed-bed reactor using
pyrolysis process at different temperatures (400, 500, 600,
700, and 800 °C). The amount of char produced from the
process decreased with increasing temperature severity
across species. The industrial application qualities of the
produced charcoal regarding high fixed carbon, content and
percentage carbon, lower moisture content, volatile matter,
sulphur and ash contents were obtained at high temperature
and heating rate for all species. The carbon content of the
produced charcoals approached absolute values between
600 and 800 °C for all species, making temperature
severity a factor at upgrading biomass energy content.
Temperature and heating rates are therefore considered as
major factors for producing industrial charcoals that is
more reactive (rich in carbon), smokeless in quality and
harder in texture across biomass species.
Keywords Biochar  Charcoal  Lignocellulosic
biomass  Pyrolysis  Temperature severity
I. F. Titiladunayo (&)  O. P. Fapetu
Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal University
of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
e-mail: ftitiladunayo@yahoo.com
A. G. McDonald
Renewable Materials Program, Department of Forest Rangeland
and Fire Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1132,
USA
•
Introduction
Residues of lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural,
forest and forest products are available and currently un-
derutilized. Biomass is the fourth largest source of energy
in the world [24, 21] and supplies about 14 % of its pri-
mary energy needs [28]. Wood and other forms of biomass
are renewable energy sources that could provide renewable
liquid, gaseous and solid fuels through various conversion
routes [13, 3]. Biomass energy content could be accessed
directly through combustion processes, or upgraded to
higher density energy forms through biochemical, ther-
mochemical, or mechanical extraction/chemical processes
[19]. The choice of appropriate biomass conversion tech-
nique is often influenced by the end-user’s requirement
(product specific), type/species of biomass, bias in product
yield, economic/availability factor, environmental consid-
erations, moisture content and process requirements. Bio-
chemical conversion techniques are usually applied on
materials with high moisture content (MC) [-50 %
whereas thermochemical conversion could be an option
only when MC is \-50 % [22]. Thermochemical con-
version refers to the alteration of the physical and chemical
nature of biomass by thermal interaction in a controlled
environment.
In pyrolysis, the polymer chain of biomass complex
organic structure of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin
is unzipped thermally to produce an array of renewable
solid, liquid and gaseous products, in complete absence or
in limited oxygen supply [4, 16, 31]. The cellulose and
hemicellulose components of biomass thermally degrade to
produce condensable organic liquids (furfural and its
derivatives (HMF), acetic acid, acetone, and methanol) and
non-condensable gases, while the lignin structure degrades
thermally to produce renewable charcoal and phenolics
123
312
[5, 9, 23, 25, 29]. Product distribution is often a function of
heating rate, residence time and maximum reaction tem-
perature, hence different pyrolysis techniques have been
utilized to promote the yield of either the solid (carbon-
ization), liquid (fast pyrolysis, flash pyrolysis, ablative
pyrolysis) or the gaseous residues (gasification). Charcoal
is a highly porous residue of microcrystalline graphite that
is left behind in a pyrolysis process. Its energy density
(Qchar) is enhanced thermally within 28.7 B Qchar B
34 MJ/kg compared to wood of 20 B Qwood B 26.5 MJ/kg
[14, 17]. It has lightweight, higher energy density, strong
reducing and highly reactive properties that makes it more
desirable as industrial and domestic fuel than its parent
stock.
Charcoal has strong reducing properties. It combines
very readily with O and S in metallic ores of aluminum,
bronze, copper, manganese, nickel, iron and silicon, and
produce pure metal extract when heated. It is the fuel used
in blast furnaces before the advent of coke [6]. It is an
excellent industrial fuel for forging operations, water and
air purification (activated carbon), producer gas generation
and fireworks manufacturing [12]. Charcoal based iron
industry still exists in a number of countries. Brazil’s
charcoal based pig iron industry is considered as the big-
gest in the world. Malaysia and Argentina are among other
significant producers [14]. Charcoal is used for the pro-
duction of chemicals such as: calcium carbide, carbon
disulfide, silicon carbide, sodium cyanide and various
pharmaceuticals [12, 20, 32]. It is also used for soil
amendments, C sequestration and helps to mitigate the
effect of green house gas on the environment and in the
preparation of biofertilizer [18, 26, 27]. Most of the char-
coal used in blast furnaces is made from hard wood species
and its use in iron smelting is highly profitable in countries
that have extensive forests but deficient in coking coal.
Charcoal is generally acknowledged to be a better reduc-
tant than coke but there are practical difficulties in oper-
ating very large blast furnaces with charcoal in the iron and
steel mills [12]. However, charcoal low S content, high C
to ash ratio, relatively few unreactive inorganic impurities,
stable pore structure, high surface area, good reduction
ability and its almost smokeless combustion ability gives it
an edge over coal, coke and other petroleum fuels.
The quality of charcoal for industrial and domestic uti-
lization is often determined by its physiochemical charac-
teristics [12]. These include the MC, FC, ash content, %C,
S content and energy value (HHV). The aim of this work
was to investigate the thermochemical reaction for charcoal
(carbonization) with respect to temperature severity, heat-
ing rate, residence time, reaction environment and biomass
species to produce products of varying physiochemical
characteristics. The quality of the derived charcoals for
industrial and domestic applications is also considered.
123
Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318
Materials and Methods
Three tropical biomass: Apa wood (A. africana), Iroko
wood (M. excelsa), and palm kernel shell (PKS) (E.
guineensis) were utilized in this study on the basis of
availability, abundance and non-economic utilization of
their wastes. The wood wastes were collected from two
sawmills in Akure while the PKS was obtained from
Okitipupa, in Nigeria. The wood wastes were processed
into pin chips (approximately 10 9 10 9 60 mm3) while
the PKS was utilized as received. 10 kg each of the feed-
stocks were oven dried to constant weights at 103 ± 2 °C
per kg by applying ASTM: E 871 standard test methods for
moisture removal.
Experimentation
Oven dried (0.5 kg batches, 3 replicates per treatment)
were pyrolyzed in a custom built fixed–bed reactor [30].
Three pyrolysis products: charcoal (solid fuel), bio-oils
(liquid fuel), and pyrogas (non-condensable gases) were
collected and the yields of each recorded. Pyrolysis
experiments were conducted at 400, 500, 600, 700, and
800 °C.
The moisture content of the selected materials and
char derivatives were determined by using METTLER
TOLEDO HB 43-S Halogen, moisture analyzer. The standard
test method for the Analysis of Particulate Wood Fuels was
adopted in determining the volatile (VM) and the ash content
for the various species and their derived char [2].
FC ¼ 100  %ðMC þ VM þ Ash contentÞ ð1Þ
-1
The concentration (mg kg ) of the inorganic elements
(in the biomass ash was determined by energy dispersive
X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED-XRFS MiniPAL 4
Model). C, H, and N contents were determined in a LECO
CHN Analyzer (Model: CHN-1000). The S analysis was
also determined with a ‘LECO Sulphur Determinator
MODEL SC 132 and O by difference (Eq. 2). All
elemental analyses were performed at the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture Ibadan, Oyo state of
Nigeria.
O ¼ 100  %ðC þ H þ N þ S þ AshÞ ð2Þ
Results and Discussion
The residual yields of char from selected biomass feed-
stock decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperatures
(Table 1, Fig. 1), as the volatiles were liberated (Fig. 2).
Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318 313

Table 1 Charcoal yield from

Carbonization Residence Charcoal yield (%)
selected lignocellulosic biomass
temperature (°C) time (min)
at different temperatures and A. africana M. excelsa E. guineensis
corresponding residence time (Apa) (Iroko) (PKS)

400 55.00 39.4 34.1 38.8

500 63.89 35.6 33.5 35.4
600 83.89 33.3 30.9 33.8
700 126.67 31.6 29.5 32.1
800 166.67 27.0 27.8 30.9

50 CApa = -0.0288T + 50.66 Apa Table 2 Variance ratios (F-calculated) from various ANOVA tables
R² = 0.98 for char residues
45 CIroko = -0.0166T + 41.12 Iroko
F value
Char yield (%)

R² = 0.98
PKS
40 CPKS = -0.0191T + 45.66 Species treatment 46.331*
R² = 0.96
Carbonization temp. (C. Temp) 130.859*
35
Interaction (Species * C. Temp) 5.536*
2
30 *Significant (p \ 0.05), R = 0.957

25
350 450 550 650 750 850 decreased significantly with increasing carbonisation tem-
Temperature (°C) perature and residence time among all the species and vice
versa. The degree of biomass carbonisation is therefore a
Fig. 1 Plot of char yield against temperatures for selected lignocel-
precursor for determining the yield and the quality of solid
lulosic biomass
residue (charcoal) produced in a pyrolysis reaction, as the
volatiles evolves (Fig. 2) and material shrinks.
50 The ash content of the parent stocks were: 1.08 % for
VM Apa = -0.1117T + 85.798 Apa apa wood, 0.82 % for iroko wood and 2.23 % for PKS
Volatile matter yield (%)

40 VM Iroko = -0.0365T + 34.346
VM PKS = -0.0562T + 44.168
30
20
10
0 400 °C to 8.20 % for iroko wood at 800 °C. This fell
350 450 550 650 750
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 2 Plot of volatile matter yield against temperatures for selected
lignocellulosic biomass
The effect of temperature on selected biomass and char
yield across species is highly significant (p \ 0.05)
(Table 2). This implies that all the species reacted to
temperature significantly (Table 3) but degrade differently
to produce char residues at corresponding temperatures
(Table 1, Fig. 1). Figure 1 indicated that the starting
materials produced a yield of 39.4 % of char at 400 °C and
27 % at 800 °C for apa wood; 34.1 % at 400 °C and
27.8 % at 800 °C for iroko wood and 38.8 % at 400 °C and
30.9 % at 800 °C for PKS. This also suggests a difference
in the degree of organic polymerisation of the selected
materials. Tables 1 and 2 shows that char residual yield
Iroko (Table 3). It fell within the range of 0.5–2.7 % for tropical
PKS trees reported by [7, 10]. Temperature interaction produced
corresponding material shrinkage as volatile matter evolves
across species as reported by [8]. The ash content increased
with temperature severity across selected biomass as
reported by [18]. The ash content for the derived char for
all the species ranged between 1.31 % for apa wood at
850 within the range of 3–10 % reported by [1, 12] for charcoal
intended for use in blast furnaces. This suggests that the
derived biochar from the temperature range of 600–800 °C
for all species can favorably serve as metallurgical char-
coals. It was also observed that the mineral matter in the
biomass feedstock has a level of influence on the charcoal
yield across species as reported by [1]. Higher ash content
in parent stocks influenced higher biochar yield (Fig. 1,
Table 3) for PKS, while lower ash content produced less
biochar yield for iroko wood at all temperatures. However,
apa wood biochar yield (Fig. 1, Table 3) followed the same
pattern at lower temperature, but deviated at higher tem-
perature and the reason (s) for this not yet clear.
The volatile matter (VM) of the oven dried parent stock
was 77.9 % for apa wood, 78.3 % for iroko wood and
79.3 % for PKS (Table 3). Apa wood degraded and liber-
2
ated volatiles at the rate of oVM
oT = -0.1 g/°C (R = 0.9) to

123
314 Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318

Table 3 Proximate analysis of selected lignocellulosic biomass and charcoal derivatives

Sample Component *P/Stk Pyrolysis temperature (°C)
400 500 600 700 800

APA ASH (%) 1.08 1.31 ± 0.01e 1.59 ± 0.02d 1.94 ± 0.01c 2.21 ± 0.01b 2.59 ± 0.02a
e d c b
IROKO 0.82 4.89 ± 0.02 6.38 ± 0.49 7.45 ± 0.01 8.03 ± 0.02 8.20 ± 0.01a
PKS 2.23 4.07 ± 0.02e 5.19 ± 0.02d 6.17 ± 0.01c 6.26 ± 0.01b 6.39 ± 0.11a
e d c b
APA FC (%) 21.06 56.38 ± 0.23 63.44 ± 0.09 87.33 ± 0.78 94.02 ± 0.19 95.36 ± 0.05a
e d c b
IROKO 20.93 74.65 ± 0.48 77.35 ± 0.06 81.54 ± 0.04 84.38 ± 0.02 85.13 ± 0.03a
e d c b
PKS 18.45 73.65 ± 0.51 78.54 ± 0.07 83.4 ± 0.02 91.64 ± 0.05 92.3 ± 0.09a
a b c d
APA VM (%) 77.86 42.31 ± 0.22 34.97 ± 0.10 10.73 ± 0.78 3.77 ± 0.19 2.05 ± 0.04e
IROKO 78.25 20.46 ± 0.46a 16.49 ± 0.08b 11.01 ± 0.03c 7.58 ± 0.01d 6.66 ± 0.03a
PKS 79.32 22.28 ± 0.51a 16.27 ± 0.06b 10.43 ± 0.01c 2.09 ± 0.05d 1.29 ± 0.11e
Values are: Means ± Standard Deviation. Values in a row with the same superscript are not significantly different from each other
* Parent stock

produce charcoal of 42.3 % mean value volatiles matter


VM at 400 °C and 2.05 % at 800 °C. Iroko wood liber-
ated volatiles at the rate of oVM 2 are of the quality and met the required grade for metal-
oT = -0.04 g/°C (R = 0.95)
to produce charcoal of 20.5 % VM at 400 °C and 6.66 %
at 800 °C, while PKS liberated volatiles at the rate of
oVM 2 samples across temperatures. The temperature range of
oT = -0.06 g/°C (R = 0.96) to produce charcoal of
22.3 % VM at 400 °C and 1.29 % at 800 °C (Fig. 2,
Table 3). The VM of the charcoal produced across species
fell within the range of charcoal intended for domestic
cooking (20–30 %), except for apa wood derived charcoal
at 400 °C, although 40 % VM is still marginally accept-
able. The VM of the charcoals produced between 600 and
800 °C for all the species fell within ‘‘good-quality’’
charcoal, intended for use as metallurgical charcoal which
often contains 10–15 % VM [1, 11, 12]. Table 3 suggest
that temperature is a precursor in thermochemical reac-
tions, VM is species specific and the rate of biomass deg-
radation is accelerated by temperature severity (p \ 0.05).
This further suggests that temperature severity drives off
volatiles to produce valuable charcoal with high energy
content and of smokeless quality.
The value of FC content of the char residues increased
with severity in temperatures (Table 3) and corresponding
decrease in charcoal yield in all the experiments (Fig. 1).
The FC for the starting materials were: 21.1 % for apa
wood 20.9 % for iroko wood and 18.5 % for PKS. The FC
for the derived charcoal ranged from 56.4 % (400 °C) to
95.4 % (800 °C) for apa wood, 74.7 % (400 °C) to 85.1 %
(800 °C) for iroko wood, and 73.7 % (400 °C) to 92.3 %
(800 °C) for PKS. This fell within the range of 50–95 % of
FC content of charcoals reported by FAO [12]. The upper
limit of that range was attained by apa wood at 800 °C.
The fixed C content of 60 B FC C 80 % in charcoal
is considered good for firing blast furnaces while
75 B FC C 80 % is considered excellent for its operations
[12, 15]. In this work, all charcoal derivatives with the
exception of apa wood (56.38 % FC obtained at 500 °C)
lurgical applications as reported by FAO [12]. A general
trend of progressive increase in FC is observed for all
600–800 °C seem good for producing metallurgical char-
coals in the reactor. This study reveals that severity in
temperature improves FC content of biomass derived
charcoals and by extension its thermo-chemical properties.
The effect of heat on the elemental (C, H, O, S and N)
content of the starting materials and charcoal derivatives
(Table 4) was investigated to determine the effect of
temperature on them. The initial %C of the oven dried apa
wood was 58.2 %. It was upgraded by temperature to
82.7 % at 400 °C and 96.1 % at 800 °C. Also, %C for
iroko wood was 57.3 %, it upgraded to 80.2 % at 400 °C
and 91.1 % at 800 °C while that of PKS was 46.8 % and
upgraded to 81.9 % at 400 °C and 93.0 % at 800 °C
(Table 4). A general trend of %C upgrade by temperature
was observed across selected materials and the derived
charcoals tend to approach absolute carbon at elevated
temperatures (Tables 4, 5). This study therefore suggests
that upgrading the %C in charcoal by temperature effect
will simultaneously address its energy content. Biochar
derivatives with appreciable %C would serve as alternate
fuel to its non-renewable energy cousins in some industrial
applications.
The %S was low across the oven dried biomass species
making them environmentally friendly (Table 4). The S
content for apa wood, iroko wood and PKS were 1.1, 1.4
and 0.5 %S respectively. The mean value %S contained
in the char derivatives range from 0.23 % at 400 °C to
0.04 % at 800 °C for apa wood; 0.03 % at 400 °C to
0.02 % at 800 °C for iroko wood; and 0.36 % at 400 °C to
0.3 % at 800 °C for PKS. The available %S in the char

123
Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318 315

Table 4 Ultimate analysis of selected lignocellulosic biomass and charcoal derivatives

Sample Elements *P/Stk Pyrolysis temperature (°C)
400 500 600 700 800

APA C (%) 58.2 82.74 ± 0.07e 86.48 ± 0.05 88.3 ± 0.24 94.51 ± 0.03b 96.1 ± 0.02
e
IROKO 57.33 80.22 ± 0.02 82.03 ± 0.02 83.0 ± 0.03 90.47 ± 0.05b 91.12 ± 0.03a
PKS 46.77 81.89 ± 0.02e 82.19 ± 0.02 87.57 ± 0.20 92.46 ± 0.13b 93.01 ± .00
APA N (%) 0.31 0.65 ± 0.01 0.77 ± 0.02 0.83 ± 0.02 0.97 ± 0.01 1.08 ± 0.01
IROKO 0.29 1.16 ± 0.01 1.22 ± 0.01 1.35 ± 0.03 1.42 ± 0.01 1.47 ± 0.02
PKS 0.63 0.84 ± 0.05 0.87 ± 0.01 0.97 ± 0.01 1.05 ± 0.01 1.13 ± 0.41
APA H (%) 6.24 3.27 ± 0.02 0.61 ± 0.02 0.47 ± 0.01 0,37 ± 0.01 0.16 ± 0.01
IROKO 6.53 0.097 ± 0.01a 0.09 ± 0.02 0.07 ± 0.01 0.05 ± 0.02 0.1 ± 0.00
PKS 16.53 0.88 ± 0.01 0.61 ± 0.02 0.44 ± 0.01 0.06 ± 0.01 0.00 ± 0.00
APA O (%) 33.07 11.8 ± 0.69 10.36 ± 0.03 8.31 ± 0.19 1.87 ± 0.01 0.037 ± 0.01e
IROKO 33.63 13.33 ± 0.02a 9.7 ± 0.5 7.95 ± 0.04 0.53 ± 0.02 0.04 ± 0.01
PKS 33.34 11.58 ± 0.67a 8.82 ± 3.45 3.22 ± 2.42 0.28 ± 0.23 0.03 ± 0.03
APA S (%) 1.1 0.23 ± o.01 0.18 ± 0.03 0.14 ± 0.03 0.07 ± 0.02 0.04 ± 0.01
b
IROKO 1.40 0.30 ± 0.01 0.23 ± 0.2 0.14 ± 0.01 0.17 ± 0.01 0.02 ± 0.01
PKS 0.50 0.36 ± 0.15 0.32 ± 0.01 0.12 ± 0.25 0.11 ± 0.25 0.3 ± 0.02
* Parent Stock

Table 5 Variance ratios (F-calculated) from various ANOVA tables for ultimate analysis
Carbon Nitrogen Hydrogen Sulphur Oxygen

Species 7,983.706* 2,760.028* 25,655.214* 48.993* 144.033*

Temperature 29,436.034* 551.330* 21,358.732* 322.082* 11,423.585*
Interaction 348.644* 8.986* 11,096.241* 16.912* 141.688*
* Significant (p \ 0.05)

derivatives approach zero as carbonization temperature
increases. This suggests that temperature severity is a
factor for modifying biomass physiochemical structure to
produce environmentally benign fuel. The H and O content
reduced with temperature while that of N and ash increased
with temperature (Tables 3, 4). The O content of the
derived char approaches zero at elevated temperatures
(Table 4) across all samples. This therefore, suggests that
temperature severity drives off O and reduce biomass
internal ballast to near zero at temperature around 800 °C,
to produce C rich biochar.
The inorganic elements of Ca, Mg, and K were the major
elements that were present in the ash. They have the following
concentrations respectively: 5,600, 2,300, and 1,100 mg kg-1
for apa wood; 7,800, 3,400, and 3,800 mg kg-1 for iroko
wood; 3,600, 1,800, and 1,100 mg kg-1 for PKS (Tables 6,
7). The elements were upgraded by temperature at 400 °C to
8,800, 4,833.33, and 2,200 mg kg-1 for apa wood, 18,000,
8,500, 6,633.33 mg kg-1 for iroko wood and 6,833.33, 4,000,
3,000 mg kg-1 for PKS. Temperature interaction at 800 °C
further improved the concentrations to 15,300, 7,533.33, and
4,533.33 mg kg-1 for apa wood, 23,566.67, 9,666.67, and
7,933.33 mg kg-1 for iroko wood and 12,833.33, 7,400,
5,566.67 mg kg-1 for PKS. The influence of the temperature
on the elements with low concentrations (minor elemental
constituents of the ash): P, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu (Table 6), is
observed to have followed the same trend. This suggests that
temperature severity is a means of upgrading ash elemental
concentrations relative to its yield (Table 3).
The analysis of variance in (Table 7) revealed a sig-
nificant (p \ 0.05) interaction between biomass and tem-
perature. The rate of change of the constituent elemental
concentration in the ash with temperature among the
selected biomass, was significantly different (p \ 0.05)
except for Ca. Pyrolysis temperature seems to have pro-
duced the same effect on the concentration of Ca content
among the selected biomass, hence it was statistically
insignificant (p [ 0.05). However, the reason for the
peculiarity of Ca at producing similar variation effect
with temperature, among the species is not very clear. The
presence of heavy metal concentrations was not detected in
the ash of any of the materials. This suggests that biomass
ash is non-pollutant but contain beneficial macronutrients
for soil remediation and improved fertility as reported by

123
 316

123
Table 6 Mean and standard deviation of the inorganic constituents in the ash of selected lignocellulosic biomass
Pyrolysis temp (°C) Concentration (mg/kg)
Ca Mg K P Na Mn Fe Zn Cu

Apa wood
P/Stk 5,600 2,300 1,100 16.913 21.081 17.316 18.216 8.216 2.372
400 °C 8,800 ± 360.56 4,833.33 ± 115.47 2,200 ± 200 31.15 ± 0.22 28.32 ± 1.96 32.88 ± 4.48 27.09 ± 5.67 16.53 ± 1.04 4.84 ± 1.60
500 °C 10,400 ± 435.89 5,400 ± 100 2,633.33 ± 115.47 41.56 ± 1.42 32.44 ± 0.64 39.80 ± 1.07 35.64 ± 0.63 18.91 ± 1.09 7.19 ± 0.21
600 °C 12,466.67 ± 1,209.68 6,466.67 ± 208.17 3,066.67 ± 152.75 51 ± 1.16 35.77 ± 1.58 47.15 ± 1.89 39.17 ± 2.07 20.53 ± 0.66 7.84 ± 0.21
700 °C 14,366.67 ± 493.29 7,000 ± 100 3,900 ± 100 57.88 ± 1.41 46.80 ± 2.16 51.43 ± 1.59 46.22 ± 0.09 23.09 ± 0.27 8.36 ± 0.07
800 °C 15,300 ± 200 7,533.33 ± 152.75 4,533.33 ± 115.47 62.14 ± 0.89 51.08 ± 1.14 57.19 ± 1.08 50.30 ± 0.78 25 ± 0.16 9 ± 0.03
Iroko wood
P/Stk 7,800 3,400 3,800 21.3 38.143 23.168 27.128 19.117 2.172
400 °C 18,000 ± 100 8,500 ± 529.15 6,633.33 ± 152.75 70.43 ± 1.48 69.88 ± 1.41 69.59 ± 1.43 58.45 ± 1.42 25.37 ± 0.67 3.95 ± 0.07
500 °C 19,200 ± 264.58 8,400 ± 100 7,000 ± 100 77.43 ± 0.61 74.61 ± 0.78 69.04 ± 0.62 59.35 ± 0.78 26.56 ± 0.76 4.03 ± 0.07
600 °C 21,733.33 ± 2,592.94 9,100 ± 100 7,066.67 ± 152.75 80.33 ± 0.67 76.26 ± 0.89 66.09 ± 5.31 61.06 ± 1.08 28.09 ± 1.54 4.20 ± 0.18
700 °C 21,756.67 ± 706 9,533.33 ± 57.74 7,566.67 ± 115.47 83.30 ± 3.02 79.50 ± 1.4 70.90 ± 1.4 62.29 ± 3.70 31.09 ± 0.99 4.55 ± 0.07
800 °C 23,566.67 ± 503.32 9,666.67 ± 152.75 7,933.33 ± 152.75 89.66 ± 1.45 82.60 ± 5.16 79.45 ± 2.02 61.73 ± 1.74 34.26 ± 0.31 4.92 ± 0.13
PKS
P/Stk 3,600 1,800 1,100 27.186 12.816 13.25 20.081 8.15 2.077
400 °C 6,833.33 ± 152.75 4,000 ± 100 3,000 ± 100 49.01 ± 0.86 26.02 ± 0.51 21.46 ± 1.14 36.83 ± 0.96 17.51 ± 0.81 4.53 ± 0.15
500 °C 8,100 ± 200 5,266.67 ± 152.75 3,800 ± 100 55.88 ± 1.18 29.87 ± 2.22 25.84 ± 0.54 39.34 ± 1.08 19.39 ± 0.63 5.06 ± 0.10
600C 9,200 ± 264.58 6,366.67 ± 416.33 4,233.33 ± 115.47 61.39 ± 1.43 33.50 ± 1.16 27.63 ± 1.59 42.14 ± 1.88 22.30 ± 0.74 6.03 ± 0.09
700 °C 11,733.33 ± 850.49 6,933.33 ± 152.75 6,000 ± 1,734.94 64.16 ± 0.20 40.28 ± 0.84 30.70 ± 0.79 52.07 ± 1.06 26.22 ± 0.83 6.17 ± 0.17
800 °C 12,833.33 ± 305.51 7,400 ± 100 5,566.67 ± 152.75 67.88 ± 0.41 50.440.80 31.40 ± 1.31 55.05 ± 0.28 30.57 ± 1.02 5.40 ± 0.41
P/Stk parent stock, PKS palm kernel shell
Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318
Waste Biomass Valor (2012) 3:311–318
Table 7 Variance ratios (F-calculated) from various ANOVA tables for Ash constituents
Calcium Magnesium Potassium Phosphorus
Species 722.002* 964.635* 284.777* 2,320.780*
Temperature 76.322* 206.470* 32.399* 438.362*
Interaction 1.188 ns 13.454* 2.478* 19.189*
* Significant (p \ 0.05), ns not significant [ 0.05)
[26, 27]. The increasing variation of ash elemental com-
position with temperature among the species suggests that
thermal degradation in pyrolysis is peculiar to biomass
polymeric constituents alone. The concentration of the
relatively unreactive inorganic materials in the char resi-
dues continues to appreciate as temperature and residence
time increases (Tables 1, 3 and 6). This is due to the mass
loss engendered by the evolving volatiles as biomass
polymer chain is unzipped by heat.
Conclusion
1. In this study the selected biomass materials degraded
differently under the same pyrolysis condition and
produced products that vary in mass, volume and
concentrations. This suggests that biomass thermo-
chemical reaction is species specific and that the
degree of biomass polymerization plays a great role on
its product yield.
2. Biomass charcoal yield with temperature is consis-
tently achieved along negative degradation slopes.
This suggests that lower pyrolysis temperatures favors
higher charcoal yield than higher temperatures. Char-
coal yield is therefore a function of the operating
temperature and biomass heating rate.
3. Charcoal quality is enhanced by the severity of
pyrolysis temperature. This is evident in the enhance-
ment of the FC content and %C of the derived
charcoals which approached theoretical C values at
temperatures between 600 and 800 °C for all samples.
This implies an impressive temperature upgrade of
their energy values. The VM and MC of the char
derivatives were also reduced to near zero at elevated
temperatures, making them more reactive, smokeless
in quality and harder in texture.
4. The inorganic S content of the biomass species were
reduced to near zero values at elevated temperatures,
giving the derived charcoal its environmentally
friendly status. The charcoals produced from 500 to
800 °C for all species had high carbon to ash ratio,
relatively few and unreactive inorganic impurities,
high FC content, high %C, low VM, good reduction
ability, low ash content and almost smokeless
317
Sodium Manganese Iron Zinc Copper
2,196.819* 1,508.781* 410.296* 384.894* 189.873*
163.279* 60.761* 79.194* 210.350* 31.280*
8.236* 11.463* 12.627* 5.373* 8.664*
characteristics which met the industrials charcoals
requirement reported by [12].
Acknowledgments The Authors appreciate University of Idaho
and gratefully acknowledge the funding from USDA-CSREES
Wood Utilization Research program grants (2008-34158-19486 and
2009-34158-20170) for making the completion of this work possible.
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