Thermal Analysis and Analytical Pyrolysis of Three Types of Lignin

There is a growing interest in new technologies for power generation, making use of renewable natural resources. Fast pyrolysis is an effective and promising process of thermal decomposition of organic materials. This study evaluated the thermal decomposition of three different types of lignin and investigated the composition of the volatiles formed during the analytical pyrolysis. The thermogravimetric analysis, which is a widely used analytical technique to observe the thermal behavior of materials, was used to investigate the decomposition of the samples at different heating rates. The micropyrolysis is a fast and reliable analytical technique that provides useful background information for development of the complex process production of bio-oil. This study evaluated the composition of the vapor formed during analytical pyrolysis at 450, 550 and 650°C. The curves obtained by thermogravimetric analysis indicate the degradation of all lignin samples takes place in a wide temperature range. Analytical pyrolysis tests for three types of lignin showed formation of phenolic compounds as most significant components.