Effects of Additives on Gasification of Unused Cedar Wood by Pyrolysis

Generating thermal power using fossil fuels is harmful to the environment. Efforts to decrease carbon dioxide emissions are being made in many countries, and the Japanese government has declared that by 2050 greenhouse gas (including CO2) emissions in Japan will be zero. Japan has great forest resources, more than 70% of the land being forested. However, the Japanese forestry industry has suffered difficulties in recent years because increasing amounts of timber are being imported and concrete is being used increasingly by the construction industry. In this study, hydrotalcite (Mg6Al2(OH)16CO3 MH2O) was added to unused cedar wood during low temperature pyrolysis to increase the amounts of flammable gases such as CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6, and C3H8 generated. Cedar wood from trees that had been felled but unused was placed in a metal reaction vessel with a predetermined amount of hydrotalcite and heated to 450 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere to achieve pyrolysis. The combustible gas components and condensed wood vinegar solution produced during pyrolysis were analyzed. The gases generated during cedar pyrolysis included CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6, C3H8, and CO2. The amount of combustible gas produced increased as the amount of hydrotalcite added increased.