Non-thermal plasma exhibits unique advan-tages in biomass conversion for the sustainable production of higher-value energy carriers.Different homogeneous catalysts are usually required for plasma-enabled biomass lique...Non-thermal plasma exhibits unique advan-tages in biomass conversion for the sustainable production of higher-value energy carriers.Different homogeneous catalysts are usually required for plasma-enabled biomass liquefaction to achieve time-and energy-efficient conver-sions.However,the effects of such catalysts on the plasma-assisted liquefaction process and of the plasma on those catalysts have not been thoroughly studied.In this study,an electrical discharge plasma is employed to promote the direct liquefaction of sawdust in a mixture of polyethylene glycol 200 and glycerol.Three commonly used chemicals,sulfuric acid,nitric acid and sodium p-toluene sulfate,were selected as catalysts.The effects of the type of catalyst and concentration on the liquefaction yield were examined;further,the roles of the catalysts in the plasma liquefaction process have been discussed.The results showed that the liquefaction yield attains a value of 90%within 5 min when 1%sulfuric acid was employed as the catalyst.Compared with the other catalysts,sulfuric acid presents the highest efficiency for the liquefaction of sawdust.It was observed that hydrogen ions from the catalyst were primarily responsible for the significant thermal effects on the liquefaction system and the generation of large quantities of active species;these effects directly con-tributed to a higher efficacy of the plasma-enabled liquefaction process.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education,China(Zhejiang University,No.2018BCE006)We are also grateful to the Australian Research Council for their partial support.
文摘Non-thermal plasma exhibits unique advan-tages in biomass conversion for the sustainable production of higher-value energy carriers.Different homogeneous catalysts are usually required for plasma-enabled biomass liquefaction to achieve time-and energy-efficient conver-sions.However,the effects of such catalysts on the plasma-assisted liquefaction process and of the plasma on those catalysts have not been thoroughly studied.In this study,an electrical discharge plasma is employed to promote the direct liquefaction of sawdust in a mixture of polyethylene glycol 200 and glycerol.Three commonly used chemicals,sulfuric acid,nitric acid and sodium p-toluene sulfate,were selected as catalysts.The effects of the type of catalyst and concentration on the liquefaction yield were examined;further,the roles of the catalysts in the plasma liquefaction process have been discussed.The results showed that the liquefaction yield attains a value of 90%within 5 min when 1%sulfuric acid was employed as the catalyst.Compared with the other catalysts,sulfuric acid presents the highest efficiency for the liquefaction of sawdust.It was observed that hydrogen ions from the catalyst were primarily responsible for the significant thermal effects on the liquefaction system and the generation of large quantities of active species;these effects directly con-tributed to a higher efficacy of the plasma-enabled liquefaction process.
