Effect of pyrolysis temperature on pyrolysis of pine saw dust and application of bio-char

Pine saw dust as a typical forest residue is slowly pyrolyzed at 400–800 °C in a fixed bed system. The influence of pyrolysis temperature on the characteristics of bio-gas, bio-oil and bio-char is investigated and then to assess their potential uses. The result indicates that the yield of bio-gas increases as pyrolysis temperature increases, while the yield of bio-char decreases. The pyrolysis temperature does not have much effect on the yield of bio-oil. The bio-gas has high content of combustible gases (H2 + CO) and heating value with increase in pyrolysis temperature. The highest content of combustible gases is 76.96% with the highest heating value of 16.46 MJ/Nm3. The main identified compounds of bio-oil are the furfuran, alkane and phenol, respectively. Therefore, bio-oil can be used as the potential chemical materials in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries. The physiochemical properties of bio-char such as element content, and BET specific surface area have changed as pyrolysis temperature increases. Besides, bio-char could be potentially applied not only to remove Ag+ from aqueous solutions but also to produce a new value-added nanocomposite.