The effect of glycerol additive on high value-added chemicals from tobacco waste pyrolysis

JH Wang and XJ Zhang and Q Xia and SY Fang and AF Hu and J Wen and SJ Zhou and WX Chen and GL Zhuang, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, 11, 110489 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2023.110489

It is of significant importance to understand the role of glycerol additive for the improvement of the energy recovery during tobacco-waste pyrolysis. Utilizing ReaxFF-based molecular dynamic simulation, herein, we systematically studied the pyrolysis mechanism of tobacco with different concentrations of glycerol (5%, 10%, 16.5%, 20%, 25%) at different temperatures (1800 K, 2000 K, 2300 K, 2500 K, 2800 K). The calculation shows that a temperature of 2000 K is the optimal temperature for producing methanol and ethanol. Furthermore, the concentration of glycerol had a significant effect on promoting methanol production at high temperatures. Methanol's main generation pathway was influenced by temperature and glycerol concentration, while the primary pathway of ethanol production was independent of them. Moreover, a pyrolysis reaction framework was created for methanol and ethanol production, and their main formation reactions were validated. Finally, a chemical kinetic analysis of the pyrolysis process confirmed the accuracy of the ReaxFF MD simulations.

Return to Publications page