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Liquid discharge plasma for fast biomass liquefaction at mild conditions: The effects of homogeneous catalysts

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Abstract

Non-thermal plasma exhibits unique advantages 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 conversions. 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 contributed to a higher efficacy of the plasma-enabled liquefaction process.

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Acknowledgments

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Electrical Engineering and Control Science, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, China

    Sen Wang, Shiyun Liu, Danhua Mei & Zhi Fang

  2. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Institute of Electromagnetics and Acoustics, Department of Electronic Science, College of Electronic Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Congcong Jiang & Xianhui Zhang

  3. School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia

    Rusen Zhou & Kostya Ken Ostrikov

Authors
  1. Sen Wang
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  2. Shiyun Liu
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  3. Danhua Mei
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  4. Rusen Zhou
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  5. Congcong Jiang
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  7. Zhi Fang
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  8. Kostya Ken Ostrikov
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Correspondence to Zhi Fang.

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Wang, S., Liu, S., Mei, D. et al. Liquid discharge plasma for fast biomass liquefaction at mild conditions: The effects of homogeneous catalysts. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 14, 763–771 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1896-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1896-y

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