Catalytic pyrolysis of rice straw and product analysis

The effect of addition of NaOH on the pyrolysis of rice straw and properties of its product were investigated. The pyrolysis was examined by means of the thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, and the pyrolysis product was characterized by the elemental analysis, GC and GC-MS. The result showed that addition of NaOH can significantly change TG and DTG peak of the pyrolysis of rice straw. As a result of the catalysis, significant difference in the properties of pyrolysis products was also observed. The addition of the catalyst promoted the increase of the hydrogen content of the gaseous product (from 1.6% to 53.37%), as well as that of the H/C and O/C ratios of solid residue. GC-MS analysis indicated that the liquid product was mainly made up of ketones, phenols and furfural, and NaOH addition did not change the main constitute of the liquid product, but changed their relative content.