1.0. Introduction 4044 2.0. Biomass Chemistry and Growth Rates 4047 2.1. Lignocellulose and Starch-Based Plants 4047 2.2. Triglyceride-Producing Plants 4049 2.3. Algae 4050 2.4. Terpenes and Rubber-Producing Plants 4052 3.0. Biomass Gasification 4052 3.1. Gasification Chemistry 4052 3.2. Gasification Reactors 4054 3.3. Supercritical Gasification 4054 3.4. Solar Gasification 4055 3.5. Gas Conditioning 4055 4.0. Syn-Gas Utilization 4056 4.1. Hydrogen Production by Water−Gas Shift Reaction 4056

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Synthesis of transportation fuels from biomass: chemistry, catalysts, and engineering.

Fast pyrolysis utilizes biomass to produce a product that is used both as an energy source and a feedstock for chemical production. Considerable efforts have been made to convert wood biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals since the oil crisis in mid-1970s. This review focuses on the recent developments in the wood pyrolysis and reports the characteristics of the resulting bio-oils, which are the main products of fast wood pyrolysis. Virtually any form of biomass can be considered for fast pyrolysis. Most work has been performed on wood, because of its consistency and comparability between tests. However, nearly 100 types of biomass have been tested, ranging from agricultural wastes such as straw, olive pits, and nut shells to energy crops such as miscanthus and sorghum. Forestry wastes such as bark and thinnings and other solid wastes, including sewage sludge and leather wastes, have also been studied. In this review, the main (although not exclusive) emphasis has been given to wood. The literature on woo...

Pyrolysis of Wood/Biomass for Bio-oil: A Critical Review

This paper provides an updated review on fast pyrolysis of biomass for production of a liquid usually referred to as bio-oil. The technology of fast pyrolysis is described including the major reaction systems. The primary liquid product is characterised by reference to the many properties that impact on its use. These properties have caused increasingly extensive research to be undertaken to address properties that need modification and this area is reviewed in terms of physical, catalytic and chemical upgrading. Of particular note is the increasing diversity of methods and catalysts and particularly the complexity and sophistication of multi-functional catalyst systems. It is also important to see more companies involved in this technology area and increased take-up of evolving upgrading processes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass and product upgrading

Biomass is an important feedstock for the renewable production of fuels, chemicals, and energy. As of 2005, over 3% of the total energy consumption in the United States was supplied by biomass, and it recently surpassed hydroelectric energy as the largest domestic source of renewable energy. Similarly, the European Union received 66.1% of its renewable energy from biomass, which thus surpassed the total combined contribution from hydropower, wind power, geothermal energy, and solar power. In addition to energy, the production of chemicals from biomass is also essential; indeed, the only renewable source of liquid transportation fuels is currently obtained from biomass.

The Catalytic Valorization of Lignin for the Production of Renewable Chemicals

Background Lignin, nature’s dominant aromatic polymer, is found in most terrestrial plants in the approximate range of 15 to 40% dry weight and provides structural integrity. Traditionally, most large-scale industrial processes that use plant polysaccharides have burned lignin to generate the power needed to productively transform biomass. The advent of biorefineries that convert cellulosic biomass into liquid transportation fuels will generate substantially more lignin than necessary to power the operation, and therefore efforts are underway to transform it to value-added products. Production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass requires separation of large quantities of the aromatic polymer lignin. In planta genetic engineering, enhanced extraction methods, and a deeper understanding of the structure of lignin are yielding promising opportunities for efficient conversion of this renewable resource to carbon fibers, polymers, commodity chemicals, and fuels. [Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy] Advances Bioengineering to modify lignin structure and/or incorporate atypical components has shown promise toward facilitating recovery and chemical transformation of lignin under biorefinery conditions. The flexibility in lignin monomer composition has proven useful for enhancing extraction efficiency. Both the mining of genetic variants in native populations of bioenergy crops and direct genetic manipulation of biosynthesis pathways have produced lignin feedstocks with unique properties for coproduct development. Advances in analytical chemistry and computational modeling detail the structure of the modified lignin and direct bioengineering strategies for targeted properties. Refinement of biomass pretreatment technologies has further facilitated lignin recovery and enables catalytic modifications for desired chemical and physical properties. Outlook Potential high-value products from isolated lignin include low-cost carbon fiber, engineering plastics and thermoplastic elastomers, polymeric foams and membranes, and a variety of fuels and chemicals all currently sourced from petroleum. These lignin coproducts must be low cost and perform as well as petroleum-derived counterparts. Each product stream has its own distinct challenges. Development of renewable lignin-based polymers requires improved processing technologies coupled to tailored bioenergy crops incorporating lignin with the desired chemical and physical properties. For fuels and chemicals, multiple strategies have emerged for lignin depolymerization and upgrading, including thermochemical treatments and homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. The multifunctional nature of lignin has historically yielded multiple product streams, which require extensive separation and purification procedures, but engineering plant feedstocks for greater structural homogeneity and tailored functionality reduces this challenge.

https://lifelong.unt.edu/sites/default/files/EmeritusCollege/Spring2015/Handouts/Lignin%20co-products.pdf

Lignin valorization: improving lignin processing in the biorefinery.

Five biomasses spruce (Picea abies L.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), iroko (Chlophora excelsa L.), albizia (Albizia adianthifolia L.), and corncob (Zea mays ssp.) have been subjected to analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS) and bench-scale pyrolysis with a fluidized bed reactor at 470 °C. The comparison of Py-GC/MS and bench scale results revealed only small differences in the relative concentration of single products mainly acetic acid, hydroxyacetaldehyde, hydroxypropanone, and lignin-derived guaiacyl and syringyl components. For European woods, organic oil yields were approximately 57%, whereas African biomasses yielded between 41 and 48% because of their higher mineral contents. The analysis of bio-oil composition revealed no significant differences between African and European biomasses. Acetic acid, hydroxyacetaldehyde, hydroxypropanone, and levoglucosan were found to be the largest individual components in the volatiles. Bio-oil from corncob, having the lowest lignin content contained high concentration o...

Fast Pyrolysis of African and European Lignocellulosic Biomasses Using Py-GC/MS and Fluidized Bed Reactor

Pre-treatment of biomass with phosphoric acid prior to fast pyrolysis: A promising method for obtaining 1,6-anhydrosaccharides in high yields

Pyrolysis is the transformation of a nonvolatile compound into a volatile degradation mixture by heat in the absence of oxygen. A rate of heating to the final temperature in the millisecond range is typical for analytical pyrolysis, in contrast to the slow heating rates employed for other thermal characterization techniques, e.g., thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), that are in the range of minutes or hours. Simple sample preparation (drying and milling), rapid analysis times (from minutes up to 1.5 h) and small sample size (1 to 100µg) are the key features of analytical pyrolysis. Comprehensive books on special applications of pyrolysis are available (Irwin 1982, Meuzelaar et al. 1982, Voorhees 1984, Liebman and Levy 1985, Linskens and Jackson 1986).

Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Application of catalysts for obtaining 1,6-anhydrosaccharides from cellulose and wood by fast pyrolysis

Studies on isolated lignins and lignins in woody materials by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and off-line pyrolysis-gas chromatography with flame ionization detection

Dietrich Meier

Papers

Fast Pyrolysis of African and European Lignocellulosic Biomasses Using Py-GC/MS and Fluidized Bed Reactor

Pre-treatment of biomass with phosphoric acid prior to fast pyrolysis: A promising method for obtaining 1,6-anhydrosaccharides in high yields

Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Application of catalysts for obtaining 1,6-anhydrosaccharides from cellulose and wood by fast pyrolysis

Studies on isolated lignins and lignins in woody materials by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and off-line pyrolysis-gas chromatography with flame ionization detection