Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Technologies For High Value Products From Biomass Pyrolysis, Chiara Barbiero

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex. Steud. is an invasive perennial grass found in North America, which is rapidly spreading throughout Ontario, damaging the native ecosystem and endangering the wildlife. This infestation has caused a decrease in biodiversity and nutrient availability to the agricultural crops through competition. One of the most effective management practices is spading them, leaving a huge number of dead stalks that need to be disposed of. Pyrolysis was selected as an alternative thermochemical method to convert this feedstock to value-added bioproducts, such as bio-oil and biochar, and to produce valuable renewable chemicals from the pyrolysis oil, such …