Major trends and roadblocks in CFD-aided process intensification of biomass pyrolysis

[Display omitted] •CFD-aided process intensification of biomass pyrolysis is reviewed.•Multiscale coupling from particle to process scales is a major trend.•HPC and adjoint solver will speed up the CFD-aided process intensification.•Great efforts are need for reliable and application pyrolysis reaction kinetics.•Microscale particle morphological evolutions are difficult to model. Process intensification is critical to increase product yields and reduce external power consumption in biomass pyrolysis. Computational fluid dynamics offers great possibilities for fast and economical process intensification of biomass pyrolysis. This succinct but in-depth current-perspective feature article discusses the major trends and roadblocks with respect to CFD-aided process intensification of biomass pyrolysis. Major trends such as multiscale coupling, fast parametric analysis and design, and coupling between CFD and process modeling, are reviewed. Major roadblocks such as lack of accurate chemical kinetics, and difficulty in accurate description of microstructural change, are pointed out. It is believed that the clarification of these directions and problems will lead to a more objective but efficient application of CFD to process intensification of biomass pyrolysis.