Design, Construction, and Operation of a Transported Fluid Bed Process Development Unit for Biomass Fast Pyrolysis:  Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research 2008-02, Vol.47 (3), p.742-747
• Main Authors: Lappas, A. A, Dimitropoulos, V. S, Antonakou, E. V, Voutetakis, S. S, Vasalos, I. A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Chemical engineering; Exact sciences and technology
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/ie060990i

The objective of this paper is to investigate biomass fast pyrolysis process in a novel once-through transported fluid bed process development unit. The main emphasis was given to the design and operation of this unit, which is made of several vessel modules. The main part of the unit is a specially designed mixing zone, where the solid heat carrier mixes with the biomass feed. The unit can process up to 20 g/min biomass and can circulate up to 300 g/min solid. Experiments showed that the unit could run effectively, with satisfactory stability and mass balances (92−96 wt % on biomass), under a wide range of experimental conditions. The yield of the raw total liquid product was up to 78 wt % on biomass basis. The effect of pyrolysis temperature on product yields is also presented in this paper:  the temperature of 500 °C was found to be an optimum temperature for the maximization of the liquid product yields using a wood-based biomass.