The composition of gaseous products from corn stalk pyrolysis process

Abstract

This paper describes experimental investigation of corn stalk pyrolysis. The mass of the sample (corn stalk) inside a pyrolytic reactor was 10 g with particle diameter of 5-10 mm. The sample in the reactor was heated in the temperature range of 24-650 °C and the gas components generated during corn stalk pyrolysis were measured using gas analyzer G750 POLYTECTOR II. The sample mass before, during and after pyrolysis process was determined by using METTLER P1000 digital scale. Experimental results of the corn stalk pyrolysis indicate that as the temperature in the reactor increases from 300 °C to 650 °C, the pyrolytic gas yield increases from 60% to 72%, while the char (coke) yield decreases from 40% to 28%. In the temperature range mentioned, the CO2 volume fraction in pyrolytic gas decreases, while the volume fraction ofmethane increases up to 39.5% followed with a constant decrease in the volume fraction of oxygen. The results obtained can represent starting basis for determining material and heat balance of pyrolysis process as well as corn stalk pyrolysis equipment.