The effect of calcium-based salt on hydrothermal carbonization of corncob

Abstract

© 2017 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland. Corncob represents a great potential as a raw material for the production of high-value added chemicals, fuels and other industrial products. Thus, corncob is suitable residue for study molecular structure through the pretreatment method. In this study, the effect of calcium-based salts on the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of corncob were studied at 160, 180, and 200 °C for 2 h. CaSO4 and Ca3(PO4)2 were used as a reaction medium. Hydrochar was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and ATR-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Characteristics of the hydrochar varied with calcium-based salt. Cellulose crystallinity in hydrochar decreased dramatically and carbon content in hydrochar obviously increased when Ca3(PO4)2 and CaSO4 were added, respectively. In case of hydrothermal at 180oC with Ca3(PO4)2 and CaSO4, the carbon microsphere was occurred.