Recent developments in biomass pyrolysis for bio-fuel production : its potential for commercial applications

There has been an enormous amount of research, in recent years, in the area of thermo-chemical conversion of biomass into bio-fuel (bio-oil, bio-char and bio-gas) through pyrolysis technology due to its several socio-economical advantages as well as an efficient method of conversion compared to other thermo-chemical conversion technologies. However, this technology is still not fully developed with respect to its commercial applications. This presentation is focused on the current status of pyrolysis technology and its potential for commercial applications for bio-fuel production. Aspects of pyrolysis technology which includes pyrolysis principles, types, reactor design, products and their characteristics, economics of bio-fuel production, etc are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of different types of reactors for bio-oil production and their yields, and operating modes of achieving desired products (bio-oil or bio-char or bio-gas) are also discussed and compared. It is found from the literatures that conversion of biomass to bio-fuel has still to overcome a lot of challenges such as understanding of the trade-off between the size of the pyrolysis plant and feedstock, improvement of the reliability of pyrolysis reactors and processes, etc to recommend for commercial applications. A very limited investigation has been done on economical feasibility study of pyrolysis technology. Further study is required for better understanding of the economics, as well as technology, of biomass pyrolysis for bio-fuel production