Low temperature microwave-assisted vs conventional pyrolysis of various biomass feedstocks

Abstract

A comparison between conventional pyrolysis and a novel developed low-temperature microwave-assisted pyrolysis methodology has been performed for the valorisation of a range of biomass feedstocks including waste residues. Microwave pyrolysis was found to efficiently deliver comparable evolution of bio-gases in the system as compared with conventional pyrolysis at significantly reduced temperatures (120–180°C vs 250–400°C). The gas obtained from microwave-assisted pyrolysis was found to contain CO₂, CH₄ and CO as major components as well as other related chemicals (e.g. acids, aldehydes, alkanes) which were obtained in different proportions depending on the selected feedstock.