Fundamentals of Thermochemical Biomass Conversion

Throughout the world many projects have been underway to investigate the conversion of renewable biomass into energy and synthetic fuels by thermo­ chemical methods such as combustion, pyrolysis, gasification and lique­ faction. While many of these represent prior art used during the early 20th century, the recent decade since the 1970s oil shock has immeasurably increased the knowledge base for such processes. Much of the new knowledge has been gained by persons who were not trained in classical wood chemistry and there have not yet been many attempts to synthesize the knowledge into a corpus of systematic information. To bring this about the International Energy Agency's Forestry Energy collaboration, the Gas Research Institute, the National Research Council of Canada and the US Department of Energy jointly sponsored a conference on the Fundamentals of Thermochemical Biomass Conversion in Estes Park, Colorado which was held on October 18-22, 1982. The Conference, which was structured around invited plenary papers and contributions from researchers, served as the basis for the papers in this volume which reflect the substantial conclusions of the Conference. During the planning for the Conference, it was realized by the editors in their capacity as Co-chairmen that a major problem in biomass research was the lack of reproducibility between reported experiments and their inter­ comparison on account of the heterogeneity of biomass materials. A well­ known wood chemist, George M.

Table of Contents:
1. Wood and Biomass Ultrastructure.- 2. Cellulose, Hemicellulose and Extractives.- 3. Lignin.- 4. Pretreatment of Biomass for Thermochemical Biomass Conversion.- 5. A Kinetic Isotope Effect in the Thermal Dehydration of Cellobiose.- 6. Gasification and Liquefaction of Forest Products in Supercritical Water.- 7. Thermochemical Fractionation and Liquefaction of Wood.- 8. The Pyrolysis and Gasification of Wood in Molten Hydroxide Eutectics.- 9. Influence of Alkali Carbonates on Biomass Volatilization.- 10. Flash Pyrolysis of Biomass with Reactive and Non-reactive Gases.- 11. Pyrolytic Reactions and Products of Biomass.- 12. Product Formation in the Pyrolysis of Large Wood Particles.- 13. The Pyrolysis Under Vacuum of Aspen Poplar.- 14. Simulation of Kraft Lignin Pyrolysis.- 15. Kinetics of Wood Gasification by Carbon Dioxide and Steam.- 16. Studies of the Rapid Pyrolysis of Sweet Gum Hardwood.- 17. Pyrolysis and Hydropyrolysis of Peat at High Heating Rates.- 18. Flash Pyrolysis of Lignin.- 19. Devolatilization of Maple Hardwood.- 20. The Direct, Mass-Spectrometric Study of the Primary and Secondary Pyrolysis Behavior of Biomass and its Constituents.- 21. Kinetics of Gas Formation from Cellulose and Wood Pyrolysis.- 22. Fast Pyrolysis (Ultrapyrolysis) of Biomass Using Solid Heat Carriers.- 23. Calorific Value of Wood as Affected by Sample Particle Size and Radial Position in Stem.- 24. The Effects of Atmosphere on Pyrolysis of Solid Fuels Produced in Finland.- 25. Thermoanalytical Studies of Carbohydrate Pyrolysis.- 26. Thermal Degradation of Rice Straw and its Components.- 27. Research on the Gasification of Biomass at the University of Aston in Birmingham.- 28. Char Properties and Gasification.- 29. A Review of the Vapor Phase Pyrolysis of Biomass Derived Volatile Matter.- 30. Ablative Pyrolysis of Biomass in Solid-Convective Heat Transfer Environments.- 31. The Gasification of Ponderosa Pine Charcoal.- 32. Gasification of Chars Obtained from Maple and Jack Pine Woods.- 33. Gasification of Charcoal: Influence of Water Vapor.- 34. Catalytic Conversion of Tars, Carbon Black and Methane from Pyrolysis/Gasification of Biomass.- 35. Modelling of Biomass Gasification.- 36. Wood Pyrolysis and Carbon Dioxide Char Gasification Kinetics in a Fluidized Bed.- 37. Modelling of Fluidized Bed Wood Gasifiers.- 38. Thermal Cracking of Tars and Hydrocarbons by Addition of Steam and Oxygen in the Cracking Zone.- 39. A Pressurized Thermo Balance for Pyrolysis and Gasification Studies of Biomass, Wood and Peat.- 40. Effect of Size, Shape, Density, Moisture and Furnace Wall Temperature on Burning Times of Wood Pieces.- 41. Single Particle Combustion Analysis of Wood.- 42. Plane Flame Furnace Combustion Studies of Pulverized Wood.- 43. Analysis of Condensate and Gases Formed in Combustion of Model Wood Volatile Compounds.- 44. Dissolution of Peat and Wood in Tetralin Compared with Coal.- 45. Fluidodynamic Effects in the Fractional Solubilization of Biomass Leading to Liquefaction.- 46. The Determination of the Most Important Flame Characteristics of Pellet Burners.- 47. Catalysis of Gas-Phase Reactions in Steam Gasification of Biomass.- 48. Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuel Potential of Agricultural Materials.- 49. Steam Gasification of Alpha Cellulose in a Fluid Bed Reactor.- 50. Wood Chip Gasification in a Commercial Downdraft Gasifier.- 51. Methane Yield from Biomass Gasification at High Temperature and Pressure.- 52. Low Temperature Gasification of Biomass Under Pressure.- 53. Biomass Gasification Reaction Velocities.- 54. Biomass Liquefaction: An Overview.- 55. Analysis and Comparison of Products from Wood Liquefaction.- 56. Characterization of Peat and Biomass Liquids.- 57. The Products of Direct Liquefaction of Biomass.- 58. Formation of Aromatic Compounds from Condensation Reactions of Cellulose Degradation Products—II.- 59. Liquefaction of Aspen Poplar to Produce an Oil and Chemicals.- 60. Thermal Degradation of Cellulose in Alkali.- 61. The Electrochemical Conversion of Biomass-Derived Compounds.- 62. Electrochemistry of Lignin Materials and Derived Compounds.- 63. The Electrolysis of Lignosite at a Reticulated Vitreous Carbon Electrode.- 64. Specification of Standard Biomass Materials for Thermochemical Research.- 65. Definition of Biomass Samples Involving Wood, Bark and Foliage.