June 1, 2010
Journal Article

Status of Process Development for Pyrolysis of Biomass for Liquid Fuels and Chemicals Production.

Abstract

Pyrolysis is one of several thermochemical conversion strategies to produce useful fuels from biomass material . The goal of fast pyrolysis is to maximize liquid product yield. Fast pyrolysis is accomplished by the thermal treatment of the biomass in an air-free environment. Very short heat up and cool-down is a requirement for fast pyrolysis. The typical residence time in the pyrolysis reactor is 1 second. In order to accomplish the fast heatup, grinding the biomass to a small particle size in the range of 1 mm is typical and pre-drying of the biomass to less than 10 weight percent moisture is considered the standard. Recovery of the product liquid, called bio-oil, is accomplished by a variety of methods all of which require a quick quench of the product vapor. A definition of fast pyrolysis bio-oil is provided for the CAS # RN 1207435-39-9 recently issued by ChemAbstracts Services.

Revised: December 16, 2010 | Published: June 1, 2010

Citation

Elliott D.C. 2010. Status of Process Development for Pyrolysis of Biomass for Liquid Fuels and Chemicals Production. International Sustainable Energy Review 4, no. 2:56-57. PNNL-SA-71983.