Molten salt for high throughput production of carbon materials from biomass

8^th European Chemistry Congress

June 21-23, 2018 | Paris, France

Fen-Tair Luo

Institute of Chemistry Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Chem Sci J

Abstract :

Heating of biomass in the oxygen-free environment is a proven technique of locking up renewable carbon in a fixed form that will not rot or decay, leading to unwanted emission of green house gases. Traditional pyrolysis using hot flue gas to effect the heat transfer is not in line with economics. We used hot liquid instead to effect the fast heat transfer to comply with economics and to be adaptable for commercialization in the future. Normally, the volumetric heat capacity of liquid is about 2000 times larger than that of gas so that the speed of heat transfer by liquid is at least several hundred times faster than that of gas. Depending on the conditions of production of the charcoal-temperature, resident time and possible pretreatment of the biomass with common environmentally friendly reagents-the resulting porous biocarbon is suitable for use as biocoal, a coal replacement but a carbon neutral fuel in thermal power-plants; biochar, for burial as a carbon negative soil amendment that can improve water retention and provide filtration of chemical toxins and pollutants activated carbon, a material with high specific surface area that can be used for filtration of liquids and gases, or as a substrate for support in catalysis or for electrochemical reactions. The technology is completely scalable from test-tube experiment to tabletop machine to pilot-plant demonstration equipment.

Biography :

Fen-Tair Luo is currently a research fellow at the institute of chemistry in academia sinica, Taiwan. In 1984, he received PhD degree of chemistry from Purdue University under the guidance of professor Ei-ichi Negishi, who won the nobel prize of chemistry in 2010. He also did one-year postdoc work with Professor Carl Djerassi, who was the first one to invent the female oral contraceptive pill in the world. He is now engaging in the molten salt technology to carbonize biomass, so far he has received the patent of supertorrefaction of biomass from six countries.

E-mail: luoft@gate.sinica.edu.tw