Pyrolytic behaviors of birch lignin

Historically lignin has been considered to be mainly a waste product, but has in recent years gained new interest as a potential feedstock for added value products in biorefinery settings. In this study, we have characterized lignin from birch prepared by the Bjorkman-method by means Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The instrument is capable of extreme fast pyrolysis completed in two seconds, where the operating temperature is reached in eight microseconds. The pyrolytic behavior of birch from untreated and different steam exploded samples was investigated using different temperature ranges and compared to each other to spot differences in pyrolysis products. Since the Py-GC/MS analysis is so fast the amount of secondary reactions are minimal, meaning that detected products represent compounds found in the samples.