eChapter Name: Pyrolysis Process
9788194849575
eBook Name: BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND EFFICIENT UTILIZATION FOR ENERGY GENERATION
by N.S. Rathore, N.L. Panwar
5.1 Introduction
Today, energy distribution and environmental issues have developed into international threats. Demand for alternative fuels increases every day due to rapid population growth, rising living standards, and economical sustainability. With its massive population, India has become the fourth largest energy consumer country in the world after the United States, China, and Russia. Because most nations use fossil fuels to fulfill their energy demands, they create negative impacts on the environment including raising global temperatures, pollution, acid rain, and other effects. As such, the quest for alternative fuels derived from renewable resources has captured significant attention throughout the world1. Biomass as a renewable energy sources is an important asset for achieving economic development is due to the availability of biomass at a low cost, a good conversion efficiency, the addition of jobs, and an increase in the biodiversity2,3. Typically, biomass is composed of cellulose (40-50%), hemicelluloses (25-35%), and lignin (15-30%). Large amount of resources for biomass are available such as woody biomass, crop residues and their by-products, food processing waste, municipal solid waste, aquatic plant etc.
In the present context, pyrolysis process has been received a remarkable identity as a potential method for the conversion of any organic biomass into valuable energy rich products due to its simple in operation and also required a reasonable cost for conversion process. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of any organic material at a specific temperature in absence of air/oxygen; the process ends with three resulting products, namely liquid (bio-oil), solid (biochar), and syngases4. Recently, biooil produced through pyrolysis process and further it up grading has been attracted a significant attention due to its major use as biofuel and as a precursor material for making chemicals5. The pyrolysis process also classified in three different types as per its operating conditions; slow, fast and flash pyrolysis.