Devolatilization Pyrolysis

Fundamental mechanism in all these processes, especially for thermochemical treatment, which can be applied to any organic
high volatile matter fuels. In this work, the devolatilization of (carbon-based) product
biomass fuels (of different origin, properties, and composition) In this treatment, material is exposed to high temperature, and in
and biomass components is studied coupling thermogravimetric the absence of oxygen goes through chemical and physical
(TG) analysis with infrared spectroscopy. separation into different molecules.
The characteristic temperatures are determined for the main Pyrolysis, the chemical decomposition of organic (carbon-
devolatilization steps and compared for all fuels. A bituminous based) materials through the application of heat. Pyrolysis,
coal and a paper sludge are also studied for comparison. which is also the first step in gasification and combustion, occurs
in the absence or near absence of oxygen, and it is thus distinct
from combustion (burning), which can take place only if sufficient
oxygen is present. The rate of pyrolysis increases with
temperature. In industrial applications the temperatures used are
often 430 °C (about 800 °F) or higher, whereas in smaller-scale
operations the temperature may be much lower. Two well-known
products created by pyrolysis are a form of charcoal called
biochar, created by heating wood, and coke (which is used as an
industrial fuel and a heat shield), created by heating coal.
Pyrolysis also produces condensable liquids (or tar) and
noncondensable gases.
The weight loss of biomass fuels is related to their chemical Pyrolysis products always produce solid (charcoal, biochar),
composition (i.e., considering the devolatilization behavior of liquid and non-condensable gases (H2, CH4, CnHm, CO, CO2
cellulose, hemicellulose (xylan), and lignin in the same operating and N). As the liquid phase is extracted from pyrolysis gas only
conditions). during it’s cooling down, in some applications, these two streams

 Devolatilization of the coal is assumed to yield a char which
contains some residues of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen.
 The removal of volatile substances from polymers, which is
called devolatilization, is one of the most important
operations in polymer manufacture.
 Devolatilization is the removal of volatile substances from a
solid.
can be used together when providing hot syngas directly to the
burner or oxidation chamber
Treated material composition – each of the major constituents of
biomass and waste feature different temperatures of thermal
decomposition, which means they contribute to the results of
process in different way. Due to high diversity of material
compositions it is always recommended to perform a pilot tests
to forecast the pyrolysis process performance in most accurate
way.
temperature of process – has a major influence to the treatment
results. Higher temperatures of pyrolysis provide greater
quantity of non-condensable gases (syngas, synthetic gas),
while lower temperatures favour the production of high quality
solid product (charcoal, bio-coal, torrefied fuels). Temperature is
a factor fully controllable in Biogreen® process thanks to
electrically heated screw conveyor that allows precise setup of
treatment conditions.
residence time of material in the pyrolysis chamber – influences
the degree of thermal conversion of received solid product as
well as the residence time of the vapour, which influences the
composition of vapours (condensable / non-condensable
phase). Residence time can be precisely controlled in Biogreen®
process by changing the rotation speed of screw conveyor
(Spirajoule®) transporting material along the reactor.
particle size and physical structure – influences the speed in
which material is subjected to pyrolysis. In general, lower particle
size materials are quicker affected by the thermal
decomposition, which can result in greater quantities of pyrolysis
oil than in case of larger particle size.