Effect of metal elements on sawdust fast-pyrolysis

Influence of metal elements such as Al/Ca/Fe/K/Na/Zn on the pyrolysis rate and production of CO and CH4 was investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Analyzer (FTIR) in the process of sawdust fast-pyrolysis in an entrained flow reactor. The results show that the addition of metal elements inhibits the production of CO/CH4, and the inhibiting ability order is Fe2O3＞ZnO＞NaCl＞CaO＞KCl＞Al2O3. The addition of Al2O3/ Fe2O3/ZnO shortens the escaping time of CO and CH4, especially for Fe2O3. The statistical analysis suggests that the addition of metal elements generally decreases the reaction rate in the process of biomass fast-pyrolysis, and the reaction rate order is no-addition＞Al2O3＞Fe2O3＞ZnO＞KCl＞CaO＞NaCl.