From resinous wood distillation to hydrogen energy (questions of the history of pyrogenation)

Abstract

Substantial contribution to development of electrical engineering was made in the 19th century. Indeed, in the early 19th century centralized gas lighting systems were established first in England, and then in the rest of Europe and North America, and then it was switched to electric lighting by 1880s. Before electricity became widespread and suitable for general public use, gas was the most popular method of indoor and outdoor lighting in cities. The article is devoted to the history of development of thermochemical technologies for the decomposition of wood and other carbon-containing materials (coal, oil, shale, peat) in order to obtain heat and related valuable products for various purposes. Special attention is paid to the development of gasification technologies of low-quality solid fuels; featuring periods of increasing demand for similar technologies and periods of a sharp decline. As a result of the analysis of world experience in the field of gasification technologies, it is shown that, generator gas theoretically can be used for energy purposes, for example to drive automobiles or internal combustion engines, to be the fuel of CHP plants of different capacity, as well as to be included into the schemes with fuel cells for the development of hydrogen energy.