Characteristics of NOx precursors and their formation mechanism during pyrolysis of herb residues

Based on two herb residues-herbal tea waste (HTW) and penicillin mycelial waste (PMW), characteristics of NOx precursors during their pyrolysis were investigated in a horizontal tubular reactor with the help of XPS and TGA technologies. Effects of thermal conditions and physicochemical properties of fuels were discussed and compared. The results demonstrate that protein-N is the main nitrogen form for both HTW and PMW, determining the dominance of NH3 among NOx precursors at any operational conditions. Thermal conditions would still change the ratio and total yield by intrinsically influencing their formation pathways. Subsequently, the effects could be sequenced as follows: high temperatures with rapid pyrolysis > high temperatures with slow pyrolysis > low temperatures with rapid pyrolysis ≈ low temperatures with slow pyrolysis. Moreover, at high temperatures with rapid pyrolysis, increase in particle size or decrease in moisture content would result in reduction of total yield by 5%-11% and 4%-6%, respectively. In addition, NH3 yield is produced at low temperatures or slow pyrolysis with sequence of PMW > HTW and vice versa, depending on components in the fuels. Consequently, analyses on nitrogen forms in char and nitrogen distribution indicate that total yield of 20%-45% is observed to be independent of fuel type under typical pyrolysis conditions, which may provide helpful guidance for the clean reutilization of herb residues.