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The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of heating rate on pyrolysis of wet biomass. Pyrolysis experiments were performed on dried samples (1 wt% moisture), air-dried samples (8 wt% moisture), and wet samples (16 wt% moisture) of corn straw. Biomass pyrolysis consisted of three stages, namely, moisture evaporation, main devolatilization, and continuous slight devolatilization. As the heating rate increased, the thermogravimetric/derivative thermogravimetric curves moved toward the high-temperature section, and average devolatilization rates increased. The Coats–Redfern method was used for kinetics analysis. The activation energy, which ranged from 63.5 to 70.8 kJ/mol, increased as the heating rate increased. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To study the effect of moisture content on pyrolysis of biomass, pyrolysis tests of dried samples, air-dried samples, and wet samples of corn straw were performed using a thermogravimetric analyzer. Moisture had no influence on the components and chemical structure of straw. However, grain size of dried samples tended to diminish and small cracks appeared on the surface. These changes contribute to heat and mass transfer for biomass pyrolysis and thereby increased devolatilization rates as well as the yield of volatile matter. The activation energy values for corn straw were in the range of 68.7–70.2 KJ/mol. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One key advantage of label-free biosensors involves the monitoring of binding between biomolecules. However, a number of experimental artifacts may lead to complicated real-time curves that do not fit well to a simple Langmuir model. As a result, the quality of the kinetic data must be improved to obtain accurate reaction rates. By carefully designing experiments, collecting the data, and processing the data, issues arising from signal drift, nonspecific binding, mass-transport effect in solution, mass-transport effect on surface, and curve fitting may be avoided or resolved. Using a label-free oblique-incidence reflectivity difference biosensor, key processes required to obtain reliable kinetic data and accurate reaction rates are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]