Catalytic Strategy of Biomass for Co- Pyrolysis Gasification of Mixed Carbon Materials: Reactivity, Alkali Metal Behavior, and Thermodynamic Evaluation

Abstract

Biomass resources provide a sustainable solution to the environmental challenges associated with fossil fuels. This study investigated the co-gasification and pyrolysis behavior of carbon sources using bamboo pole (BP) and bamboo leaf (BL) as biomass. The experimental results revealed that the addition of biomass significantly reduced the activation energy of petroleum coke (PC) pyrolysis. Particularly, the addition of BP and BL reduced the activation energy from 221.08 and 145.78 kJ/mol to 144.12 and 77.72 kJ/mol, respectively. Similarly, the activation energy of non-caking coal (NC) pyrolysis decreased from 92.26and 92.18 kJ/mol to 66.67 and 66.21 kJ/mol with the addition of BP and BL, respectively. Consequently, the activation energy of the mixed carbon material pyrolysis significantly decreased. The biomass had a stronger positive impact on PC than on NC. Additionally, the reaction between silica and mixed carbon materials significantly shortened the pyrolysis time. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the catalytic effect of alkali metals was crucial for enhancing the efficiency of carbon source pyrolysis. This study indicates the strategic utilization of biomass resources to reduce fossil energy consumption and mitigate environmental pollution in industrial silicon smelting processes.

Keywords: Biomass, Synergies, Industrial silicon, Thermogravimetric analysis, Carbon neutrality