Investigating the potential for energy, fuel, materials and chemicals production from corn residues (cobs and stalks) by non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis in two reactor configurations O. Ioannidou a , A. Zabaniotou a, * , E.V. Antonakou b , K.M. Papazisi b , A.A. Lappas b , C. Athanassiou c a Chemical Engineering Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece b Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute (CPERI), Greece c Department of Engineering & Management of Energy Resources, University of Western Macedonia, Greece Received 19 November 2007; accepted 7 January 2008 Abstract The results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of corn cobs and corn stalks are reported in this paper. Pyrolysis took place in two different reactor configurations for both feedstocks: (1) fast pyrolysis in a captive sample reactor; and (2) non-catalytic slow pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis in a fixed-bed reactor. Experiments were carried out in atmospheric pressure at three temperatures: low temperature (360–380 8C), medium temperature (500–600 8C) and at high temperature (600–700 8C). The results of the experimental study were compared with data reported in the literature. Investigating the potential of corn residues for energy, fuel, materials and chemicals production according to their thermochemical treatment products yields and quality, it can be stated that: (a) corn stalks could be suitable raw material for energy production via gasification at high temperature, due to their medium low heating value (LHV) of pyrolysis gas (13–15 MJ/m 3 ); (b) corn cob could be a good solid biofuel, due to the high LHV (24–26 MJ/kg) of the produced char; (c) additionally, corn cobs could be a good material for activated carbon production after being activated or gasified with steam, due to its high fixed carbon content(74 wt%); (d) liquid was the major pyrolysis product from catalytic pyrolysis (about 40–44 wt% on biomass) for both feedstocks; further analysis of the organic phase of the liquid products were hydrocarbons and phenols, which make them interesting for chemicals production. # 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Pyrolysis; Catalytic pyrolysis; Captive sample reactor; Fixed-bed reactor; Corn cob; Corn stalks Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 751 2. Experimental ................................................................................. 751 2.1. Biomass characteristics ..................................................................... 751 2.2. Fast pyrolysis in the laboratory captive sample reactor ............................................... 752 2.3. Slow pyrolysis in the laboratory fixed-bed reactor .................................................. 753 2.4. Catalytic pyrolysis in the laboratory fixed-bed reactor ................................................ 754 3. Results and discussion .......................................................................... 754 3.1. Elemental and thermogravimetric analysis of corn residues ............................................ 754 3.2. Experimental results of fast pyrolysis in the captive sample reactor ...................................... 755 3.2.1. Product yields ..................................................................... 755 3.2.2. Gas composition.................................................................... 755 3.2.3. Char quality....................................................................... 756 www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009) 750–762 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2310 99 62 74; fax: +30 2310 99 62 09. E-mail address: sonia@cheng.auth.gr (A. Zabaniotou). 1364-0321/$ – see front matter # 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.01.004