Study on the pyrolysis kinetics of rice husk catalyzed by zinc-containing oxides in electric arc furnace dust

In order to accelerate the practical application of biochar in the steelmaking industry, there is an urgent need to find a way to reduce the biomass pyrolysis temperature and increase the efficiency of biochar production at the technical level. Therefore, in this paper, the catalytic effect and mechanism of Zn-containing oxides (ZnO and ZnFe2O4) in electric arc furnace (EAF) dust on the pyrolysis of rice husk were investigated by using thermogravimetric coupled with infrared spectroscopic analysis and Raman spectroscopic analysis. The results show that zinc oxides promote the decomposition of large aromatic rings into small aromatic rings during pyrolysis, thus facilitating the generation of small-molecule pyrolysis gases. The pyrolysis temperature of rice husk was reduced by the addition of Zn-containing oxides. And the catalytic effect of ZnO was stronger compared to ZnFe2O4. However, the catalytic effect was weakened with the addition. Additionally, the activation energies of the pyrolysis reactions of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin were all reduced, and the amount of cellulose pyrolyzed was greatly increased. •Studying the microcarbon structure of biochar catalyzed by zinc-containing oxides.•Studying the effect of zinc-containing oxides on the pyrolysis process of rice husk.•Kinetic analysis reveals zinc oxide-catalyzed pyrolysis of rice husks.