Product Formation in the Pyrolysis of Large Wood Particles

Abstract

The potential for energy and chemicals production from renewable resources has re-established interest in thermal conversion of biomass. If the devolatilization of a single wood particle can be predicted accurately and optimized, process design and scale-up of biomass conversion processes can benefit from the methodology developed for heterogeneous catalysis(e.g. ref. 1). Although using small particles might be advantageous for certain gasification processes, size reduction of fibrous wood chips is difficult and expensive.2 Therefore, large particles or a distribution of particle sizes will likely be employed. Knowledge of the effects of particle size, particle thermal properties and wood anisotropy on pyrolysis product distribution and volatiles release rate will be important in preparing an optimal biomass feedstock for any thermal conversion process.