The research paper's results have been published in the Biomass and Bioenergy journal.
Pyrolysis is a process involving the thermal decomposition of natural organic compounds during a shortage of oxygen. Pyrolytic technologies are mostly used in the petrochemical industry.
A group of scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University are studying the pyrolysis of typical Russian biomass, including peat, straw, several types of timber-industry waste and cedar pine nut shells.
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They note that high-energy products, including resin, solid carbon residue and combustible gas, form as a result of biomass processing. They serve as environmentally friendly versions of traditional hydrocarbon fuel, used by the fuel and energy sector.
According to experts, expanded research in this field will help create more resource-efficient and economically profitable technologies for obtaining energy from bio-fuel. Biomass ranks among renewable energy sources and causes pollution of the environment and is a potential fire hazard.
At the same time, they note that technologies for obtaining biofuel from biomass should become more cost-effective so that bio-fuel would either replace organic fossil fuels or offer some tough competition to them. Some researchers believe that this unprofitable and spend thrifty technology requires substantial amounts of energy for decomposing organic substances.
However, the University’s scientists voice a diametrically opposite viewpoint: Pyrolysis can emit heat that, in turn, should be used to maintain this chemical process.
"We conducted an experiment, using the straw to show the exothermic nature of the biomass pyrolysis process, and our research analyzing the thermal decomposition of various solid organic fuels shows that the biomass pyrolysis process yields a substantial heat effect", Roman Tabakayev, a research associate with the University's Butakov Research Center, said.
Therefore biomass can be processed in the autothermic mode, he added.
According to scientists, they now have to study the possibility of processing biomass in the autothermic mode during the continuous loading of feedstock on a commercial scale.
