The effects of pyrolytic conditions on microwave pyrolysis of prairie cordgrass and kinetics

This study investigated microwave pyrolysis of prairie cordgrass (PCG) to determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature and time on the yields of bio-oil, syngas, and biochar. Microwave pyrolysis of PCG was analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM) to find out the effect of process variables on the bio-oil and syngas yield and established prediction models. Second-order reaction kinetics was developed to model the PCG pyrolysis. Bio-oil recovery was in the range of 20.3–33.1 wt% of the biomass. GC–MS analysis indicates that the bio-oil contained a series of important and useful chemical compounds: aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemical compounds evolved were related to the pyrolysis conditions.