Utilization of waste wood for production of iron, carbon monoxide and hydrogen without generating carbon dioxide

National legislation within Japan has increased the need for the development of new process technologies that will utilise waste wood materials. The present study is aimed at generating some fundamental data with respect to the reduction of iron oxide by waste wood. By using a high frequency induction furnace, mixtures of wood + Fe2O3 were heated very rapidly to temperatures between 1673 and 2073K in a stream of argon. Gas chromatographic technique applied on exhaust gases escaping from the furnace revealed that the gaseous reaction products consisted mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. On the other hand, conventional chemical analysis and X-ray diffraction technique made on condensed-phase reaction products detected the presence of Fe-C alloys, solid carbon (char) and ferrous oxide, depending upon the atomic ratio of C/O within wood + Fe2O3 Mixture. Thus, the reaction products consisted of metallic iron, ferrous oxide, char, CO, CO2, H2O, H-2 and CH4, depending upon C/O atomic ratio within the mixture and the experimental temperature. The results were in good agreement with values calculated from thermodynamic equilibrium.