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Sintering of Lignin-based Particles During Fast Pyrolysis: A Kinetic Study Using Furnace Aerosol Reactor And Tandem Differential Mobility Analysis
SUJIT MODI, Onochie Okonkwo, Hao Zhou, Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St. Louis
Abstract Number: 460
Working Group: Aerosol Physics
Abstract
A major operational challenge of industrial large-scale utilization of lignin through fast pyrolysis is the plugging of the reactors [1]. This is due to the growth of lignin-based particles by sintering which leads to the formation of oversized agglomerates and subsequent plugging. The growth of particles is also the basis for imprecise control of size and decrease in the specific surface area of particles [2]. Presently, there is a dearth of knowledge about the sintering phenomenon in lignin-based particles. It was also observed that lignin undergoes significant decomposition reactions while sintering. In the previous study by Cho and Biswas [3] a methodology for modeling sintering kinetics based on mobility diameter changes was described. Using that methodology, in the present study, an approach has been outlined for modeling simultaneous reaction and sintering to account for lignin decomposition reactions. Experiments are carried out in FuAR followed by characterization of size and morphology using tandem differential mobility analyzer and TEM, respectively. The model predictions from sintering only, reactions only, and combined sintering and reaction are compared with the experimentally recorded variation in mobility diameter. The sintering kinetic constants, preexponential factor and activation energy, obtained in this study can be used to guide the choice of operating conditions to limit plugging of the continuous reactors, and to estimate the changes in size and specific surface area of the lignin-derived particles due to sintering.
Keywords: Sintering, reactor plugging, furnace aerosol reactor, tandem differential mobility analysis
[1] J. Li, X. Bai, Z. Dong, Y. Chen, H. Yang, X. Wang, et al., Fuel 263 (2020) 116629.
[2] K. Cho, C.J. Hogan, P. Biswas, Journal of Nanoparticle Research 9 (2007) 1003-1012.
[3] K. Cho, P. Biswas, Aerosol science and technology 40 (2006) 309-319.