Two-Stage Pyrolytic Conversion of Biomass

The widespread adoption of biomass as an energy fuel is hindered by a number of its significant drawbacks, such as low heating value, low ash melting point, low bulk density etc. Technological solutions that allow to fully overcome these shortcomings and ensure high economic performance have not yet been proposed, although there is a significant demand for them. A new technology for thermal processing of biomass into gas fuel, based on the pyrolysis process, has been developed at the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (JIHT RAS). The degree of energy conversion of the processed raw materials in the proposed technology is about 75%. The gas fuel yield is ∼1.3 m3/kg of biomass, and its heating value, on average, is 11 MJ/m3. The content of the liquid phase in the energy gas obtained by the developed technology is not more than 50 mg/m3. The gas produced by the technology under consideration on average consists of 90% hydrogen and carbon monoxide. According to existing standards, this gas can be used as a fuel for mini-CHP with gas-piston engines. A promising direction for using this gas is the production of liquid motor fuels.