Characteristics of high heating rate biomass chars prepared under N2 and CO2 atmospheres

Partial substitution of coal by biomass in combustion systems in conjunction with advanced technologies for CO₂ capture and storage may result in a significant reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. This study investigates three biomass chars produced from rice husk, forest residuals and wood chips under N₂ and CO₂ atmospheres using a drop tube furnace (DTF) heated at 950 °C. The char constitutes an unburned residue which has been devolatilized under conditions resembling in thermal history those in full scale boilers. Higher weight losses were achieved under N₂ than under CO₂ for each type of biomass, and the highest weight loss was that of wood chips biomass, followed by forest residuals and then rice husk. The results indicate significant morphological differences between the biomass chars produced. The wood chips yielded thick-walled chars with a cenospheric shape very similar to those of low-rank vitrinite. The forest residual chars were angular in shape and often had a tenuinetwork structure, while the rice husk chars retained their vegetal structure. Overall, the studied biomass chars can be described as microporous solids. However, in the case of the rice husk, the silica associated to the char walls was essentially mesoporous, increasing the adsorption capacity of the rice husk chars. The atmosphere in the DTF affects the development of porosity in the chars. The pore volumes of the rice husk and forest residual chars prepared under a CO₂ atmosphere were higher than those of chars prepared under a N₂ atmosphere, whereas the opposite was the case with the wood chip chars. The chars that experienced the most drastic devolatilization were those with the lowest intrinsic reactivity. This indicates a more efficient reorganization of the chemical structure that reduces the number of active sites available for oxygen attack. Overall a similar morphology, optical texture, specific surface area and reactivity were found for the biomass chars generated under N₂ and CO₂, which is a similar result to that obtained for coal chars.