Abstract:

Continuous Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis of Corn Cob for Producing Bio-Oil Wan Yiqin1,2, Wang Yingkuan2,3, Liu Yuhuan1,2, Lin Xiangyang2,4, Paul Chen2, Roger Ruan1,2 (1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Engineering Research Center for Biomass Conversion, Ministry of Education, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China; 2. Center for Biorefining and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA; 3. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering, Beijing 100125, China; 4. College of Biological Science and Technology, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China) Abstract：Research and application of biomass energy are receiving global attention. The existing biomass technologies mainly focused on producing bio-fuel ethanol by fermenting starch-based biomass, and the large-scale exploration of biomass pyrolysis is still at an experimental stage. However, their applications are limited to low cost-efficiency. The authors’ research group developed a complete set of continuous microwave assisted pyrolysis(MAP) test equipment with a biomass-pyrolyzing capacity of 50-70 kg/h, based on the previous experimental studies on batch MAP of biomass. The self-developed continuous MAP equipment was used to produce bio-oil from untreated corn cob and corn cob pretreated with dilute sulphuric acid. The bio-oil products with different components were obtained. The analysis shows that the compositions of the bio-oil produced from corn cob pretreated with dilute sulphuric acid were relatively simpler and less using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The research results provide theoretical basis and test rig reference for producing bio-oil from agricultural and forestry wastes.