Chemical kinetics of biomass pyrolysis

This paper analyzes the main kinetic features of biomass pyrolysis, devolatilization, and the gas phase reactions of the released species. Three complex steps are faced in sequence: the characterization of biomasses, the description of the release of the species, and finally, their chemical evolution in the gas phase. Biomass is characterized as a mixture of reference constituents: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. This assumption is verified versus experimental data, mainly relating to thermal degradation of different biomasses. Devolatilization of biomasses is a complex process in which several chemical reactions take place in both the gas and the condensed phase alongside the mass and thermal resistances involved in the pyrolysis process. A novel characterization of the released species is applied in the proposed devolatilization models. The successive gas phase reactions of released species are included into an existing detailed kinetic scheme of pyrolysis and oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels. Comparisons with experimental measurements in a drop tube reactor confirm the high potentials of the proposed modeling approach.