LAUSR

Hydrolysis kinetics and structure changes of wood meal were investigated at a temperature range of 170–330 °C. The weight of wood-meal residue began to decrease at 180 °C, reachng its lowest value at 319 °C. Chars were generated in the subcritical water treatment, resulting in an increase in the lignin weight in the wood-meal residue. Three zones were observed in the entire hydrolysis process, which can be described by Coats–Redfern models, yielding the activation energies and pre-exponential factors for the hydrolysis zones with a high correlation coefficient. The first-order kinetic model was the most effective one to express the hydrolysis kinetics of wood meal, yielding an activation energy of 98.8 kJ mol–1 in Zone 1, 42.8 kJ mol–1 in Zone 2, and 126.7 kJ mol–1 in Zone 3. The crystalline structures of the wood-meal residue showed no great changes below 283 °C, but were completely destroyed at 319 °C. The hydrolysis behaviors of the cellulose and hemicellulose in the wood meal in the subcritical water ...