Volatile composition and thermal behavior of hydrochars produced from carbohydrates and wood biomass

Babinszki, Bence and Czirok, István Sándor and Sebestyén, Zoltán and Ercan, Betül and Ucar, Suat and Tekin, Kubilay and Czégény, Zsuzsanna and Karagöz, Selhan (2026) Volatile composition and thermal behavior of hydrochars produced from carbohydrates and wood biomass. In: 25th International Symposium on Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (Pyro2026), 2026.06.07-12., University of Pisa.

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Abstract

Among the various thermochemical methods for utilizing biomass, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising technology. HTC converts renewable carbon sources, such as lignocellulosic biomass, into an energy-dense carbonized solid product known as hydrochar. Hydrochars of carbohydrates (i.e., glucose, cellulose, starch) and woody biomass samples (i.e., sawdust of fir and larch) were prepared by HTC at 200 °C for 24 h. The hydrochar yields of glucose, cellulose, and starch were nearly 40 % by mass, while larch and fir wood yielded a higher ratio at around 51 % due to their hydrothermally more stable lignin content. The properties of the hydrochars were characterized by ultimate analysis, higher heating values (HHV), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. In addition, morphological characteristics of the surface of the hydrochars were presented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal behavior of the feedstocks and the hydrochars was determined by thermogravimertry/mass spectrometry (TG/MS), which also allowed us monitoring the evolution of devolatilizing compounds in the lower range of molecular weight. The comparison of the thermogravimetric curves showed that the carbohydrate contents significantly degraded during HTC, but a smaller volatile fraction remained in the hydro¬chars. Based on this observation, two-staged pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) measurements of the hydrochars were performed for the detailed analysis of the volatile contents of the hydrochars of carbohydrates and woody biomass samples. The findings of this study may enhance the production of hydrochars from different sources, which have the potential to be used as substitute products for coal and other fossil-based energy sources.

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