Flash pyrolysis of biomass particles in fluidized bed for bio-oil production

Biomass utilization could relieve the pressure caused by conventional energy shortage and environmental pollution. Advantage should be taken of the abundant biomass in China as clean energy source to substitute for traditional fossil fuels. At present, flash pyrolysis appears to be an efficient method to produce high yields of liquids that could either be directly used as fuel or converted to other valuable chemicals. Experiments were carried out of pyrolyzing biomass particles in a hot dense fluidized bed of sand to obtain high-quality bio-oil. Among four kinds of biomass species adopted in our experiment, Padauk Wood had the best characteristics in producing bio-oil. GC-MS analysis showed bio-oil to be a complex mixture consisting of many compounds. Furthermore, an integrated model was proposed to reveal how temperature influences biomass pyrolysis. Computation indicated that biomass particles underwent rapid heating before pyrolysis.