(691d) Continuous-Flow Pyrolysis of Sugarcane Bagasse in a Radio-Frequency Heated Reactor

The potential for exhaustion of fossil fuels coupled with its deleterious effect on the environment has propelled research and development of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass. There is a plethora of literature on energy generation from biomass, especially using the pyrolysis process. Most of these published results are based on batch processing systems which use masses that are typically less than 30g, with commercial operations in general using a version of the fluidized bed process. Recent development in pyrolysis reactors, including in our research lab, include the utilization of electrified energy sources such as radio-frequency-based induction heating, but they are in general limited to batch reactors and relatively small quantities. In this work we report for the first time, findings from a continuous-flow pyrolysis reactor heating via radiofrequency-driven inductive heating, using sugarcane bagasse waste as a biomass source. Bio-oil, biochar and gas yields from the continuous induction heater followed the same pattern of variation with reaction temperature and time as observed with the batch process. Optimum temperature to maximize bio-oil yields of 45-55 % was around 600^oC in both the batch and continuous systems. COMSOL Multiphysics modeling of the continuous induction heater, the elemental composition and some physical properties of the oil from the continuous induction heater are also reported. The similarity of the findings obtained for the two processes emphasizes the repeatability of the induction pyrolysis process for biomass and indicates that the process could easily be scaled up.