Carbon dioxide assisted thermal decomposition of cattle excreta

Abstract To develop the environmentally benign thermo-chemical process, this study placed great emphasis on the influence of CO 2 on pyrolysis of cattle excreta for energy recovery. To this end, this study evaluates the possible enhanced energy recovery from cattle excreta using CO 2 as reaction medium/feedstock in the thermal degradation of cattle excreta. The enhanced generation of CO in the presence of CO 2 reached up to 15.15 mol% (reference value: 0.369 mol%) at 690 °C, which was equivalent to ~ 4000 times more generation of CO. In addition to the enhanced generation of CO, the enhanced generation of H 2 and CH 4 in the thermal degradation of cattle excreta in CO 2 . Thus, the findings of this study revealed two genuine roles of CO 2 : 1) enhanced thermal cracking of volatile organic carbons (VOCs) evolved from the thermal degradation of cattle excreta and 2) direct reaction between VOCs and CO 2 via gas phase reaction.