Production technology and estimating the heat of combustion of biofuel hydrolysis products from wood and wood waste

A theoretical and practical estimation was made for the full composition and thermal combustion of a proposed biofuel on the basis of hydrolysis products obtained from wood and wood waste. It was shown that the hydrolysis technology compares favorably with others in that it does not require significant expenditures of thermal energy, and there are also no requirements for the quality of the feedstock (non-commercial wood, logging residues, woodworking waste). The technological features of hydrolysis of wood were reviewed to ensure the decomposition of its main components – cellulose and lignin. It is noted that the greatest difficulty lies in ensuring the hydrolysis of lignin, a chemically and biologically stable natural biopolymer. For this purpose, the most complete qualitative and quantitative composition was established, the lower heat of combustion of the components and the specific air consumption during complete combustion of the mixture were calculated, and an experimental estimation of the heat of combustion of the mixture of the resulting products was carried out using the calorimetric method. The calorific value of pyrolysis products was compared with a similar parameter for traditional petroleum fuel and assumptions were made about the possibility of using pyrolysis products as liquid engine fuel.