Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass for the Production of Energy and Chemicals

Anthony Dufour is a Research Scientist at the CNRS, Nancy, France. His research focuses on the thermochemical conversions of biomass and mainly on gasification, pyrolysis and up-grading of syngas and bio-oils.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Bioenergy Chain and Process Scales 1

1.1 Biomass production and ecological issues 1

1.2 Modeling of bioenergy chains 3

1.3 Technical-economical analysis of bioenergy chains 15

1.4 Life-cycle and multicriteria of bioenergy chains 20

Chapter 2 Reactor Scale 29

2.1 Introduction about the reactions occurring in biomass thermochemical reactors 29

2.2 Reactors for biomass combustion 32

2.3 Reactors for biomass gasification 38

2.4 Reactors for biomass pyrolysis 51

2.5 Reactors for biomass liquefaction 62

Chapter 3 Particle Scale and Mesoscale 67

3.1 Introduction on the main mechanisms occurring during wood pyrolysis 67

3.2 Physical-chemical mechanism of pyrolysis at the particle scale 68

3.3 Evolution of polymer network in biomass at the mesoscale 78

3.4 Structure of a char particle and mechanisms of its oxidation 89

Chapter 4 Molecular Scale 93

4.1 Introduction on the variability of biomass composition and the decoupling of reactions 93

4.2 Chemical structure of lignocellulosic biomass 94

4.3 Chemical mechanisms of primary pyrolysis 96

4.4 Molecular mechanisms of gas-phase reactions 109

4.5 Molecular mechanisms of catalytic reactions 117

Conclusion 135

Bibliography 139

Index 157