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Porous biochar production from pyrolysis of corn straw in a microwave heated reactor

  • Chaoyue Liu , Tianhao Qiu , Ehab Mostafa , Hui Liu EMAIL logo , Wenke Zhao and Yaning Zhang EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: January 30, 2024

Abstract

Conversion of corn straw into biochar by pyrolysis was considered as an environmentally friendly and efficient method for biomass sources because porous biochar has excellent properties and wide applications. Porous biochar production from corn straw in a microwave heated reactor was the main purpose of this study. The yields and microstructures of biochar produced at different pyrolysis temperatures (500, 600, 700, 800, and 900 °C), microwave powers (600, 650, 700, 750, and 800 W), and pyrolysis times (30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 min) were studied. The results showed that biochar yield ranged from 44.69 to 59.90 wt% with the changes of reaction conditions. Biochar with the nanoscale pores was first obtained at pyrolysis temperature of 800 °C, microwave power of 600 W, and pyrolysis time of 30 min, indicating that corn straw biochar had the potential to produce nanoscale pores. This study also quantitatively described the relationship between microstructure and productivity of corn straw biochar at different experimental conditions (pyrolysis temperature, microwave power, pyrolysis time), which can provide guidance for the reuse of corn straw and the production of porous biochar.


Corresponding author: Hui Liu, Yaning Zhang, School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China, E-mail: (H. Liu), (Y. Zhang)

Award Identifier / Grant number: 52076049

Funding source: Heilongjiang Province "Double First-class" Discipline Collaborative Innovation Achievement Project

Award Identifier / Grant number: LJGXCG2023-080

Funding source: Heilongjiang Provincial Key R&D Program

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2023ZX02C05

Funding source: Heilongjiang Provincial Key R&D Program "Unveiling the Leader" Project

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2023ZXJ02C04

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: Financial support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52076049), and Heilongjiang Province “Double First-class” Discipline Collaborative Innovation Achievement Project (LJGXCG2023-080), Heilongjiang Provincial Key R&D Program (2023ZX02C05) and Heilongjiang Provincial Key R&D Program “Unveiling the Leader” Project (2023ZXJ02C04).

  5. Data availability: The authors will make all data sets available on request to readers without any reservations.

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Received: 2023-06-25
Accepted: 2023-12-19
Published Online: 2024-01-30

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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