Catalytic effect of alkali metals in volatilisation of solid biofuels during gasification

Gasification of agricultural waste is a process by which a residual product is transformed into valuable renewable chemicals and energy vectors. However, significant lack of understanding of the fundamental principles underlying the thermal breakdown of solid biofuels, still hampers the widespread of this desirable technology. This study tackles one of the currently unknown aspects of thermochemical breakdown of biomass and provides preliminary results to demonstrate that alkali and alkaline hearth metals present in feedstock catalyse the volatilisation of hydrocarbon fraction during gasification. This study lays the basis for more in depth investigation on the matter.