This work presents studies on the co-combustion of sludge and wheat straw (30 wt % sludge + 70 wt % wheat straw). Prior to the combustion experiment, thermogravimetric analysis was performed to investigate the combustion characteristic of the blended fuel. Results indicated that the blended fuel could remedy the defect of each individual component and also promote the combustion. Co-combustion experiments were conducted in a lab-scale vertical tube furnace and the ash samples were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Thermodynamic calculations were also made to study the interactions that occurred. Addition of sludge could raise the melting point of wheat straw ash and reduce the slagging tendency. Co-combustion also restrained the release of K and transferred it into aluminosilicate and phosphate. Transfer of Pb and Zn in the co-combustion was also studied. The release and leaching toxicity of the two heavy metals in the co-combustion were weakened effectively by wheat straw. PbCl₂(g) and ZnCl₂(g) could be captured by K₂SiO₃ in wheat straw ash particles and generate silicates. Interactions that possibly occurred between K, Zn, and Pb components were discussed at the end of the paper.

To investigate the catalytic pyrolysis performance of complex metal oxide catalysts for biomass, γ-Al₂O₃ was prepared through the precipitation method, and then ZrO₂ and γ-Al₂O₃ were blended in the proportion of 2:8 using the co-precipitation method. Next, CeO₂ was loaded on the surface of the catalyst for further modification. The three catalysts, A, ZA and CZA, were obtained. The specific surface and acidity of the catalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption and NH₃-Temperature Programmed Desorption (NH₃-TPD) respectively. The catalytic pyrolysis performance of catalysts for bamboo residues was investigated by Pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Chromatograms were analyzed for identification of the pyrolysis products and the relative amounts of each component were calculated. Experimental results indicated that catalyst A had a good catalytic activity for the fast pyrolysis of bamboo residues. The addition of ZrO₂ and CeO₂ could continuously enhance the acidity of the catalyst and further promote the pyrolysis of macromolecular compounds and deoxidation of oxygen-containing compounds. Finally, catalyst CZA, obtained by compound modification, could not only dramatically reduce the relative content of phenol, acid and aldehyde and other oxygen-containing compounds, but also achieved the maximum hydrocarbon yield of 23.38%. The catalytic performance of catalyst CZA improved significantly compared with catalyst A.

To delve into the law of hydrocarbon production in microwave-assisted catalytic fast pyrolysis (MACFP) of corn straw, physical mixed Mesoporous Crystalline Material-41 (MCM-41) and Zeolite Socony Mobile-5 (ZSM-5) catalyst prototypes were exploited in this study. Besides, the effects exerted by temperature of reaction and MCM-41/ZSM-5 mass ratio were explored. As revealed from the results, carbon outputs of hydrocarbons rose initially as the temperature of MACFP rose and reached the maximal data at 550 °C; subsequently, it declined as reaction temperature rose. Moreover, the MCM-41/ZSM-5 mass ratio of 1:2 was second-to-none for hydrocarbon formation in the course of biomass MACFP. It was reported that adding MCM-41 can hinder coke formation on ZSM-5. Furthermore, MCM-41/ZSM-5 mixture exhibited more significant catalytic activity than ZSM-5/MCM-41 composite, demonstrating that hydrocarbon producing process can be stimulated by a simple physical MCM-41 and ZSM-5 catalysts mixture instead of synthesizing complex hierarchically-structured ZSM-5/MCM-41 composite.