Fast pyrolysis characteristics and its mechanism of corn stover over iron oxide via quick infrared heating

The harm done to the environment by fossil fuels was serious, and it is urgent to find effective methods and adopt carbon-neutral feedstock to prevent further environmental damage. An innovative infrared heating reactor was developed for the generation of high-yield bio-oil and cleaner pyrolysis gases. This work was devoted to exploring the fast pyrolysis characteristics and its mechanism of corn stover over the iron oxide in a novel infrared heating (IH) reactor and a traditional electric heating (EH) reactor. In the IH reactor, the bio-oil yield increased initially and then decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature, reaching a maximum yield of 29 wt% at 600 °C. The yield of pyrolysis bio-oil and water decreased as the reusability number rose, whereas the char yield increased. Bio-oil yields decreased less from R0 to R3 and the catalyst was more effective in IH. IH produced more char and gas but considerably less water than EH, and its bio-oil had fewer phenols. Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the aromatic structure of biochar increased as the pyrolysis temperature increased. Cellulose and hemicellulose can be completely cleaved at lower temperatures in IH. In addition, Fe₂O₃ catalysts have shown the advantages of low cost, efficient cycling, and long action time. Infrared heating coupled with iron oxide catalyst shows the potential to increase bio-oil yield and is more promising for industrial production than EH.