Abstracto

Kinetic models for biomass pyrolysis.

Teresa Mart

Biomass can be thermally treated to generate a wide range of valuable products, which can be used as a fuel or for chemicals production. Pyrolysis is a popular thermal process that is used to transform biomass into either bio-oil or bio-char by controlling the operating conditions (e.g., temperature and residence time); however, because biomass is a highly heterogeneous material, its pyrolysis involves complex chemical and physical changes. Various proposed mechanisms have been successful in capturing different aspects of biomass pyrolysis in different conditions, but there is still lack of consensus on a definitive kinetic mechanism. This review summarizes and discusses different types of kinetic models used to describe biomass pyrolysis and predict product yields.