Modeling and simulation of wood pyrolysis process using COMSOL Multiphysics

Abstract

The current study presents the modeling and simulation of wood pyrolysis process of American Red oak using COMSOL Multiphysics to identify the effect of process parameters on product yield, and predict the heat and mass transfer profiles of cylindrical geometry samples of two dimensions ((2 × 10) cm and (5 × 10) cm). The non-isothermal and isothermal pyrolysis kinetics were simulated at heating rates of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 100 °C/min, and temperature range of 250 to 600 °C, respectively to study the effect of heating rate, pyrolysis temperature. A complex reaction mechanism was included to predict the product distribution. During non-isothermal pyrolysis, samples of smaller geometry showed higher heat transfer, leading to occurrence of higher flux of produced vapors. The developed model maybe extended for different biomass samples to optimize the operating conditions for desired product yields. Further, this study may help scaling up the pyrolysis process.