Fast pyrolysis utilizes biomass to produce a product that is used both as an energy source and a feedstock for chemical production. Considerable efforts have been made to convert wood biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals since the oil crisis in mid-1970s. This review focuses on the recent developments in the wood pyrolysis and reports the characteristics of the resulting bio-oils, which are the main products of fast wood pyrolysis. Virtually any form of biomass can be considered for fast pyrolysis. Most work has been performed on wood, because of its consistency and comparability between tests. However, nearly 100 types of biomass have been tested, ranging from agricultural wastes such as straw, olive pits, and nut shells to energy crops such as miscanthus and sorghum. Forestry wastes such as bark and thinnings and other solid wastes, including sewage sludge and leather wastes, have also been studied. In this review, the main (although not exclusive) emphasis has been given to wood. The literature on woo...

Pyrolysis of Wood/Biomass for Bio-oil: A Critical Review

Char black carbon (BC), the solid residue of incomplete combustion, is continuously being added to soils and sediments due to natural vegetation fires, anthropogenic pollution, and new strategies for carbon sequestration (“biochar”). Here we present a molecular-level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET)−N2 surface area (SA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are used to show how two plant materials (wood and grass) undergo analogous but quantitatively different physical−chemical transitions as charring temperature increases from 100 to 700 °C. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct categories of char consisting of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars, the crystalline character of the precursor ma...

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Dynamic molecular structure of plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar)

and Fuels Changzhi Li,† Xiaochen Zhao,† Aiqin Wang,† George W. Huber,†,‡ and Tao Zhang*,† †State Key Laborotary of Catalysis, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China ‡Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States

Catalytic Transformation of Lignin for the Production of Chemicals and Fuels

Lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis mechanism: A state-of-the-art review

Modeling chemical and physical processes of wood and biomass pyrolysis

Mechanism study of wood lignin pyrolysis by using TG–FTIR analysis

Influence of the interaction of components on the pyrolysis behavior of biomass.

Comparison of the pyrolysis behavior of lignins from different tree species.

A fluidized bed reactor with 3 kg h −1 throughput operating at an atmospheric pressure with an inert atmosphere at 773 K has been used to produce bio-oils from the wood feedstocks such as Pterocarpus indicus, Cunninghamia lanceolata, and Fraxinus mandshurica, as well as from rice straw. The best oil-producing characteristics were for P. indicus and the worst were with rice straw. These data were used to design a larger scale unit of 20 kg h −1 throughput, and to estimate the production costs at an industrial scale. The quality of the bio-oil produced remains poor, and a combination of high value products and energy applications are needed for profitability.

Shurong Wang

Papers

Lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis mechanism: A state-of-the-art review

Mechanism study of wood lignin pyrolysis by using TG–FTIR analysis

Influence of the interaction of components on the pyrolysis behavior of biomass.

Comparison of the pyrolysis behavior of lignins from different tree species.

Research on biomass fast pyrolysis for liquid fuel