Flue gas resourcing coupled with biomass conversion: catalytic nitrogen-rich pyrolysis of cellulose regulated by O2 concentration

To synergistically achieve industrial flue gas resourcing and high-value biomass conversion, a novel process of cellulose-catalyzed nitrogen-rich pyrolysis mediated by oxygen-poor flue gas was proposed in this paper. A systematic investigation of the influences of O 2 concentration (1–7 vol%), temperature (450–600 °C), and the presence of Al-MCM-41 on the cellulose-urea co-pyrolysis for preparing nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) was conducted. Under optimal conditions (550 °C, 5 vol% O 2 ), the synergistic effect of mesoporous structure and acid sites of Al-MCM-41 transformed the product distribution from levoglucosan-dominated oxygenated compounds to high-value NCCs mainly comprising nitriles (25.3 %) and pyrazines (25.2 %). The relative content of NCCs reached 92.1 %, showing a 46.1 % increase compared to non-catalytic conditions. The process opens up a green and efficient synergistic path for the co-conversion of industrial waste gas and biomass, demonstrating significant industrial application value.