Experimental and Modelling Studies of Biomass Pyrolysis

The analysis on the feedstock pyrolysis characteristic and the impacts of process parameters on pyrolysis outcomes can assist in the designing, operating and optimizing pyrolysis processes. This work aims to utilize both experimental and modelling approaches to perform the analysis on three biomass feedstocks--wood sawdust, bamboo shred and Jatropha Curcas seed cake residue, and to provide insights for the design_and operation of pyro-lysis processes. For the experimental part, the study investigated the effect of heating rate, final pyrolysis tempera- ture and sample size on pyrolysis using common thermal analysis techniques. For the modelling part, a transient mathematical model that integrates the feedstock characteristic from the experimental study was used to simulate the pyrolysis progress of selected biomass feedstock particles for reactor scenarios. The model composes of several sub-models that describe pyrolysis kinetic and heat flow, particle heat transfer, particle shrinking and reactor opera-tion. With better understanding of the effects of process conditions and feedstock characteristics on pyrolysis through both experimental and modelling studies, this work discusses on the considerations of and interrelation between feedstock size, pyrolysis energy usage, processing time and product quality for the design and operation of pyrolysis processes.