Preparation of Calcium Magnesium Acetate Deicer Using Raw Acetic Acid-Rich Bio-oil Obtained from Continuous Two-Stage Pyrolysis of Corncob

Two-stage pyrolysis of corncob was performed to simultaneously produce acetic acid-rich and phenolic-rich bio-oils. The two-stage pyrolyzer consisted of an auger reactor and a fluidized bed reactor connected in series. The temperature of the auger reactor was varied between 320 and 400 degrees C, whereas that of the fluidized bed reactor was fixed at about 520 degrees C. The total bio-oil yield was over 50 wt %. The bio-oil produced from the auger reactor contained up to 48 wt % acetic acid based on the relative response factor method and low concentrations of lignin degradation products. In contrast, the bio-oil produced from the fluidized bed reactor was enriched with phenolic compounds with a maximum phenol concentration of about 19 wt %. Further, the acetic acid-rich bio-oil was used for the synthesis of calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), a nonchloride deicer, without any post-treatments for acetic acid separation or enrichment. CMA synthesized using bio-oil was chemically identical to the reference CMA. On the other hand, biochar, a byproduct, was activated using CO2 to produce microporous activated carbon with a BET surface area of about 580 m(2)/g. In summary, it was possible to produce value-added products (CMA and activated carbon) from the continuous two-stage pyrolysis of corncob.