Comparison of High-Caloric Fuel (HCF) from Four Different Raw Materials by Deoxy-Liquefaction

Four different biomass raw materials (corn stalk, reed, tobacco stalk, and banana leaves) were chosen to be deoxy-liquefied in an airtight vessel reactor for high-caloric fuel (HCF) production. The influence of temperature (573−723 K) on the product yields and chemical compositions of HCF from the four samples via deoxy-liquefaction were investigated. It was significant to find that the maximum content of alkanes was obtained at 673 K for corn stalk (35.98 mol %) and tobacco stalk (7.43 mol %), and 623 K for reed (32.56 mol %) and banana leaves (67.79 mol %), which was consistent with the optimum temperature for the highest yield of every sample. HCF from tobacco stalk (HCFt) was rich in phenolics and poor in hydrocarbons, whereas HCF from banana leaves (HCFb) was rich in hydrocarbon (alkanes: C7−C29; benzene derivatives) and poor in phenolics. The HCF from corn stalk and reed (HCFc and HCFr, respectively) were moderate. The composition of HCF had a great relationship with the holocellulose, lignin, and extractives content in the raw materials. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography with a TCD detector (GC122) were used to determine the composition in HCF and in gaseous products, respectively.