Effects of gas temperature fluctuation on the instantaneous pyrolysis of biomass particles

• The instantaneous devolatilization of pine and almond shell particles are studied.
• The gas temperature fluctuation leads to faster mass loss of the particles.
• The effects are enhanced by increasing the fluctuation amplitude of gas temperature.

Pyrolysis is a process dominating the mass loss of biomass particles during their combustion. The instantaneous pyrolysis processes of biomass particles in a hot gas with temperature fluctuation are investigated. Two types of biomass fuel, i.e., pine and almond shell, are chosen for the present study. The instantaneous mass variations of the biomass particles with diameters of 100–300 μm are calculated under different conditions. The gas temperature fluctuation has influences on the instantaneous pyrolysis processes of both pine and almond shell particles. It leads to faster mass loss of the particles and shortened time for the pyrolysis. The effects are enhanced by increasing the fluctuation amplitude of the gas temperature.