Experimental and modeling studies of intermediate pyrolysis of wood in a laboratory-scale continuous feed retort reactor

Abstract

Experiments and simulations in Aspen Plus® were performed to study the intermediate pyrolysis of wood in a continuous-feed retort reactor. The experiments were conducted at temperatures of 450, 500, and 650 °C, wood particle sizes of <1.4 mm, and reactor feeding rate of 0.15 kg/h. The experiment recorded a maximum liquid yield of 44.2 wt% at a pyrolysis temperature of 450 °C, while the simulation predicted a maximum yield of 49.1 wt% at 415 °C. Similar results were also reported in other studies. The ultimate analysis of the biochar produced was determined experimentally and by simulation. Results obtained from the experiment and the model were in good agreement. The model's ability to predict the composition of bio-oil was demonstrated through a comparison of its predicted distribution with literature. Furthermore, the study revealed that prolonged char presence in the retort improved biochar quality instead of increasing volatile yields.