Investigations of the flash pyrolysis of biomass using simulated solar radiation
The purpose of this research was to demonstrate that flash pyrolysis has great potential as a technology for producing synthetic fuels and feedstocks from biomass. It was determined that the pursuit of faster and faster heating rates is not conducive to maximizing the yield of sirups from the pyrolysis of biomass. The consensus in the literature was that as heating rates increased, less char and more sirup would be formed. The implications of this finding are that three mechanisms compete to degrade the cellulose, instead of only two as was previously believed. The new branch of the decomposition mechanism is one which results primarily in the formation of low molecular weight gaseous products and char. This branch of the mechanism becomes important at the rapid heating rates seen in the flashlamp series of experiments. A summary of the spouted bed literature was presented with particular attention paid to the design of biomass pyrolysis reactors for use in conjunction with visible radiant heating. The combined results show that spouted beds have a place in pyrolysis research because they help realize several important goals. The use of clear spouted bed reactors makes possible the two temperature effect, the separation of gas phase and solid phase temperatures within a small region. This separation enables the high sirup yields, which result from rapid heating rates, to be preserved, and prohibits the cracking of these sirups to less valuable products.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Univ., NJ (USA). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-81SF11531
- OSTI ID:
- 5403591
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/SF/11531-T1; ON: DE84002128
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products. Thesis
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CELLULOSE
PYROLYSIS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS
RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER
SIMULATION
SOLAR PROCESS HEAT
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT
HEAT TRANSFER
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYSACCHARIDES
PROCESS HEAT
SACCHARIDES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
090122* - Hydrocarbon Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)