Flash pyrolysis of biomass with reactive and non-reactive gases

Conference · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5846630

Steinberg, M; Fallon, P T; Sundaram, M S

The process chemistry of the flash pyrolysis of biomass (wood) with the reactive gases, H/sub 2/ and CH/sub 4/ and with the non-reactive gases He and N/sub 2/ is being determined in a 1'' downflow tubular reactor at pressures from 20 to 1000 psi and temperatures from 600 to 1000/sup 0/C. With hydrogen, flash hydropyrolysis leads to high yields of methane and CO which can be used for SNG and methanol fuel production. With methane, flash methanolysis leads to high yields of ethylene, benzene and CO which can be used for the production of valuable chemical feedstocks and methanol transportation fuel. At reactor conditions of 50 psi and 1000/sup 0/C and approximately 1 sec residence time, the yields based on pine wood carbon conversion are up to 30% for ethylene, 25% for benzene, and 45% for CO, indicating that over 90% of the carbon in pine is converted to valuable products. Pine wood produces higher yields of hydrocarbon products than Douglas fir wood; the yield of ethylene is 2.3 times higher with methane than with helium or nitrogen, and for pine, the ratio is 7.5 times higher. The mechanism appears to be a free radical reaction between CH/sub 4/ and the pyrolyzed wood. There appears to be no net production or consumption of methane. A preliminary process design and analysis indicates an economically competitive system for the production of ethylene, benzene and methanol based on the methanolysis of wood. 8 refs., 18 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5846630
• Report Number(s): BNL-36070; CONF-850355-1; ON: DE85010962
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122* -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
140504 -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
ALKANES
ALKENES
ALKYLATED AROMATICS
AROMATICS
BENZENE
BIOMASS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCKS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
CONIFERS
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
DIAGRAMS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ETHYLENE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOWSHEETS
FLUIDS
GASES
HELIUM
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN
INFORMATION
MEDIUM PRESSURE
METHANE
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PINES
PLANTS
PYROLYSIS
RARE GASES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TIME DEPENDENCE
TOLUENE
TREES
VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE
WOOD
XYLENES
YIELDS