Flash Pyrolysis of Biomass with Reactive and Non-Reactive Gases: Summary Report for Period July 1983 through September 1984

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1046981· OSTI ID:1046981

Steinberg, M. ^[1]; Fallon, P. T. ^[1]; Sundaram, M. S. ^[1]

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1. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

The purpose of this program is to study the conversion of biomass to liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels and chemical feedstocks by a flash or rapid pyrolysis technique. During this period of study pine wood was flash pyrolyzed in atmospheres of methane and helium at a pressure of 50 psi and at temperatures up to 1050 °C. The 1'' I.D. entrained downflow tubular reactor was used in these experiments. Product yields of methane, ethane, ethylene, BTX, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were determined as a function of temperature and gas to wood ratio. Of particular interest were the ethylene and BTX yields. These represented as much as 29.6% and 24.6% of the carbon contained in the feed wood respectively when flash pyrolyzing in methane (flash methanolysls) and 14.7% and 9.7% when pyrolyzing in helium. In the case of flash methanolysis of wood the yields of ethylene and benzene increased with increasing methane to wood feed ratios. In the case of flash pyrolysis in helium the yields of ethylene and BTX decreased with increasing helium gas to wood feed ratios. These results indicate a mechanism by which a free radical reactive species originating from the wood interacts with the methane pyrolyzing gas to produce an enhanced yield of ethylene and benzene. The flash methanolysis of lignin extract from wood produced lower yields of ethylene, indicating the yields mainly originate from the cellulosic fractions of the wood. Some work was also performed on substituting wood ash for sillca flour (Cab-O-Sil) to allow free flow of wood particles through the entrained flow reactor. Preliminary process design and analysis indicates an economically competitive process for the flash methanolysis of wood for the production of methanol, benzene and ethylene. Future plans include completing the studies on obtaining the process chemistry of the flash methanolysis of woods, to obtain a better understanding of the enhanced ethylene and benzene yield and to investigate other biomass forms.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886; AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 1046981
• Report Number(s): BNL--35607
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
09 BIOMASS FUELS
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
BENZENE
BIOMASS
CARBON
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS
CHEMISTRY
ETHANE
ETHYLENE
GASES
HELIUM
HYDROCARBONS
LIGNIN
METHANE
METHANOL
PINES
PRODUCTION
PYROLYSIS
RADICALS
WOOD