DOI: 10.1002/ente.

201600538

Prospects and Challenges of Pyrolysis Technologies for

Biomass Conversion
George W. Huber*[a] and Robert C. Brown*[b]

Pyrolysis is the first step in any thermochemical biomass can be pyrolyzed to a variety of important products including
processes. Under the non-equilibrium conditions of fast py- a-olefins and ammonia. Several papers note that pyrolysis
rolysis, the major product is liquid, variously known as pyrol-
ysis liquid, pyrolysis oil, or bio-oil, which is the cheapest
George Huber is the Harvey Spangler
liquid fuel produced from biomass on the market today. Sev-
Professor of Chemical Engineering at Uni-
eral companies are commercializing different aspects of py-
versity of Wisconsin-Madison. His re-
rolysis technologies. However, pyrolysis oil is a low-quality
search focus is on developing new catalyt-
product primarily used for process heat and power genera-
ic processes for the production of renewa-
tion. To achieve the full benefits of pyrolysis technologies,
ble liquid fuels and chemicals. He has
several advancements must be made to better improve the
authored over 120 peer-reviewed publica-
quality of pyrolysis products and the overall efficiency of the
tions including three publications in Sci-
process. Several exciting new types of pyrolysis technologies
ence. In 2015 Thomson Reuters listed
are in various stages of development including: fractional py-
George as a “highly cited researcher”
rolysis, hydrotreating of pyrolysis oils, autothermal pyrolysis,
a title given to those who rank in the top
hydropyrolysis, in situ catalytic pyrolysis, and ex situ catalytic
1 % most cited researchers. He has been
pyrolysis. All of these technologies have the ultimate goal of
awarded more than 13 patents and is co-founder of Anellotech (www.a-
pyrolyzing biomass to liquid products, gases, or coke, often in
nellotech.com) a biochemical company focused on commercializing cat-
the presence of a catalyst that deoxygenates the pyrolysis
alytic fast pyrolysis, a technology to produce renewable aromatics from
vapors. Most commercial development of pyrolysis technolo-
biomass. George has been named one of the top 100 people in bioener-
gy is empirical in nature, still dependent on an Edisonian ap-
gy by Biofuels Digest for the past 4 years. He obtained his B.S. (1999)
proach to innovation.
and M.S.(2000) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young
T he purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight recent ad- University, followed by his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Universi-
ty of Wisconsin-Madison (2005) and had a postdoctoral stay with Aveli-
vances in pyrolysis technologies and to discuss the critical re-
no Corma at the Technical Chemical Institute at the Polytechnical Uni-
search needs of this field. We think innovations in pyrolysis
versity of Valencia, Spain (UPV-CSIC).
will advance more rapidly with improved understanding of
the fundamental chemical, physical, and catalytic processes
underlying pyrolysis technology. This issue came together by Robert Brown holds the Anson Marston
inviting several of the worlds leading experts on fast pyroly- Distinguished Professorship in Engineering
sis to contribute to this special issue on topics of their choice. and Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in
The result is a wide ranging exploration of the science and Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State
engineering challenges of pyrolysis energy technologies. University (ISU), where he is now Profes-
sor in the Departments of Mechanical En-
A lthough most pyrolysis research has focused on lignocellu- gineering, Chemical and Biological Engi-
neering, and Agricultural and Biosystems
losic feedstocks, Fonts et al. demonstrate that sewage sludge
Engineering. Dr. Brown is the founding di-
rector of the Bioeconomy Institute (BEI),
[a] Prof. G. W. Huber
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering which coordinates ISU’s research, educa-
University of Wisconsin–Madison tional, and outreach activities related to
Madison, WI 53706 (USA) bio-based products and bioenergy. Dr. Brown has built multi-disciplinary
E-mail: gwhuber@wisc.edu
teams at ISU around several promising thermochemical platforms in-
[b] Prof. R. C. Brown
cluding bio-oil production and upgrading, syngas production and up-
Bioeconomy Institute, Iowa State University
1140E Biorenewables Research Laboratory grading, bio-oil and syngas fermentation, and biochar production and
Ames, IA 50011 (USA) application, resulting in over $ 100 million in research contracts and
E-mail: rcbrown3@iastate.edu grants as PI or co-PI, and he has published over 200 refereed papers
This publication is part of a Special Issue on “Pyrolysis for Energy Tech- and book chapters. He is the recent recipient of the Don Klass Award
nologies”. A link to the issue’s Table of Contents will appear here once it
is complete.
for Excellence in Thermochemical Conversion Science.

Energy Technol. 2016, 4, 1 – 3  2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim &1&
These are not the final page numbers! ÞÞ
chemistry is poorly understood and highlight the need for
improved analytical methods to understand this chemistry.
For example, Zhou et al. review the chemistry of hemicellu-
lose pyrolysis while Xu et al. review catalytic upgrading of
the phenolic compounds from lignin pyrolysis to value-added
products.
Computational models help us understand the complex
chemical reactions and transport processes that occur during
pyrolysis. Proano-Aviles et al. used a computational fluid-dy-
namic model to understand heat and mass transfer effects in
a micropyrolysis reactor often used in fundamental studies of
pyrolysis. They find that nominal heating rates are more than
five times slower than often assumed for these reactors. They
also find that mass transfer can become an issue depending
on the kind of sample holder employed. A dimensional anal-
ysis of an auger-type fast pyrolysis reactor by Funke et al.
provides insight into transport phenomena in pyrolysis. Any
pyrolysis reactor model must include the thermodynamics of
the process, which can be difficult to measure. Di Blasi et al.
review the literature on the exothermicity of biomass pyroly-
sis.
A wide variety of catalytic approaches that have the poten-
tial to produce fungible transportation fuels or commodity
chemicals are explored in this Special Issue. Routray et al.
study the hydrotreating of condensed pyrolysis oil, while
Nolte et al. consider deoxygenation of pyrolysis vapors over
MoO catalysts. Several articles described studies of catalytic
reactions associated with catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP),
which converts biomass into aromatics, olefins, carbon mon-
oxide, water, and coke. Schultz et al. demonstrate how the
addition of Ga to a ZSM-5 catalyst can increase the aromatic
yields by over 50 %. Paasikallio et al. explore how the cata-
lyst-to-biomass feed ratio changes the bio-oil quality in CFP.
Shao et al. show that the product selectivity during CFP of
Energy Technol. 2016, 4, 1 – 3  2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
furan, a model biomass compound, is a strong function of
the amount of coke on the catalyst. They develop a model
that describes how the selectivity changes as a function of
coke deposited on the catalyst. Gamliel et al. take a different
approach to deoxygenation, adding hydrogen to the reactor
in a process known as hydropyrolysis. Westerhof et al. pres-
ent the conversion of fractional condensed pyrolysis oil and
alcohol to biofuels and methyl levulinate.
Scaling of pyrolysis is a critical component in advancing
commercialization. While several studies in this issue were
performed in benchtop micropyrolysis reactors, some were
done in larger pilot or process development units. Conti
et al. used a 2.0 kg hr 1 thermocatalytic reforming reactor to
demonstrate the co-pyrolysis of biomass and various organic
wastes into synthesis gas, biochar, and bio-oil. Wang et al.
conducted CFP studies in a 0.7–1.4 kg per day fluidized bed
reactor using a variety of non-zeolitic catalysts. Paasikallio
used a 0.5 kg hr 1 circulating fluidized bed reactor to study
CFP.
F or these pyrolysis technologies to be commercially adopt-
ed they must be economically competitive with fossil based
technologies. A systems approach allows us to determine the
economics of these pyrolysis technologies and also the opti-
mal way to implement technologies. In this issue, Herron
et al. demonstrate that the design of a fractional pyrolysis
system must be performed in conjunction with the design of
the system used to upgrade the fractionated products.
We hope that you enjoy reading this Special Issue on pyrol-
ysis technologies as much as we have and come away with an
increased understanding of the prospects and challenges of
improved pyrolysis technologies for renewable fuel and
chemical production.
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These are not the final page numbers! ÞÞ
EDITORIAL
Pyrolysis for Energy Technologies: G. W. Huber,* R. C. Brown*
The studies assembled in this Special
&& – &&
Issue of Energy Technology highlight
the prospects and challenges of im- Prospects and Challenges of Pyrolysis
proved pyrolysis technologies for re- Technologies for Biomass Conversion
newable fuel and chemical production.
We thank all of our contributors and
hope that our readership will share our
excitement about this Special Issue.

Energy Technol. 2016, 4, 1 – 3  2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim &3&
These are not the final page numbers! ÞÞ