Rolando Zanzi

Rapid pyrolysis of agricultural residues at high temperature

This paper deals with rapid pyrolysis of agricultural residues such as olive waste and straw at high temperature (800 -1000degreesC) in a free-fall reactor at pilot scale. The conditions are of int ...

Rapid high-temperature pyrolysis of biomass in a free-fall reactor

Rapid pyrolysis of biomass, wood and agricultural residues was studied using a free-fall reactor with which the effects of heating rate, temperature, particle size and residence time on the product distribution, gas composition and char reactivity could be determined. Interest was focused on the effect of the rapid pyrolysis conditions on the reactivity of the char. Formation of low yields of char with high reactivity is desirable in both gasification and combustion. The reactivity of char obtained in pyrolysis of biomass is very strongly influenced by the treatment conditions and may be significantly increased by using high heating rates, small particle size of the fuel and short residence time at higher temperature.

Effect of water vapour and biomass nature on the yield and quality of the pyrolysis products from biomass

Slow pyrolysis/activation of biomass in a flow of steam is studied in laboratory equipment supplied with a fixed bed reactor. Forestry and agricultural residues of different origin are selected as ...

Thermochemical treatment of biomass in a flow of steam or in a mixture of steam and carbon dioxide

Simultaneous pyrolysis and gasification of biomass samples of different origin is performed in a flow of steam or in a mixture of steam and carbon dioxide. Wastes from birch wood, olive stones, bag ...

Autothermal Fluidized Bed Pyrolysis of Cuban Pine Sawdust

Oxidative pyrolysis of Cuban pine sawdust was investigated using an autothermal fluidized bed reactor. Biomass particles were fed continuously (8.13 Kg/h) in a bed, fluidized by air gas. Experiments were conduced at three different dimensionless air factors 1, 1.5, and 2 (defined as ratio of actual air flow rate to stoichiometric air flow rate). The various physical and chemical characteristics of the pyrolysis products acquired in these conditions were identified. The results indicated that (1) the operating temperature can be correlated with the air factor; (2) the higher air factor promotes high temperature and contributes to the secondary reactions, which lead to less liquid; (3) the physicochemical characterization of the pyrolysis products indicated that the air factor, in the range studied, does not have a notable influence in their properties; (4) the liquid and char products obtained may be a potentially valuable source of chemical feedstocks.

Rapid Pyrolysis of Wood with Application to Gasification

Pyrolysis is the initial stage in both gasification and combustion of biomass. The treatment conditions in the pyrolysis determine the char yield and its reactivity in the gasification.

A phenomenological energy model of biomass pyrolysis under autothermal fluidized bed conditions

In Cuba a variety of types of biomass is being investigated for energy conversion through thermochemical processes into solid, liquid, and gas products. A continuous bench fluidized bed pyrolysis has been designed and is currently under testing. In this article, a transport model has been developed to simulate the axial temperature fields in a bench. The model and experimental results indicated that (1) two zones exist inside of the fluidization column, the dense bed where the exothermic and endothermic reactions are active, and the freeboard zone where the temperature of the pyrolysis product decreases continuously; (2) the bed temperature increases with an increase in the air factor. The predicted temperature is in quantitative agreement with experimental measurements.