Wood-derived acid leaching of biomass for enhanced production of sugars and sugar derivatives during pyrolysis: Influence of acidity and treatment time

- Time for leaching inorganics is reduced by increasing the acidity of solution.
- Identifying reaction mechanism for removal of alkali and alkaline earth metals.
- The chemical state of alkali and alkaline earth metals influences the composition of pyrolysis products.
- No losses of volatile matter during leaching in mild conditions.

Inorganic matter in biomass (especially alkali and alkaline earth metals) acts like intrinsic catalysts during pyrolysis and influences the composition of derived liquids. In this work, the influence of acidity and time on leaching of inorganics with wood pyrolysis-derived acids was investigated in order to understand their effect on the biomass characteristics and the composition of pyrolysis products, as well as to study the mechanism of leaching of different inorganic elements. Aqueous solutions of 5 and 10 wt% acetic acid (main acid in pyrolysis products and in similar concentrations) were used for demineralizing softwood at 85 °C for 30-90 min. Biomass characteristics, composition of intrinsic inorganics and primary pyrolytic vapors from different pretreatment cases are presented. Results show that removal of inorganics was in all cases enhanced by higher acidity; time of treatment was only seen to have a positive effect at lower acidity. The volatile matter of biomass was not affected by the pretreatment, confirming the conditions investigated being relatively mild. Results from Py-GC/MS of leached biomass show an increased selectivity towards sugars and sugar derivatives and simultaneous suppression of the relative composition of carbonyls and phenolic compounds in derived vapors. Sugars and sugar derivatives was enhanced by increasing the leaching time at higher acidity, without seeing a clear correlation to removal of alkali and alkaline earth metals. It is therefore suggested that other factors might influence the pathway of formation of primary pyrolysis products than what has previously been suggested by others. Because of the enhanced production of sugars and sugar derivatives from pyrolysis of leached biomass, this procedure might serve as a pathway to be enable the utilization of pyrolytic liquids as feedstock for existing fermentation-based biorefineries.