Science Forums 2

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by CraigD

AFAIK, hydrogen, CH4 (methane), and other “reformed” fuel gases are made from more massive hydrocarbon molecule fuels, and have no more energy than these source fuels.

What do you mean by this? H2 and CH4 are produced naturally through the pyrolysis. I guess the "reformed" part is throwing me off.

Another example is the conversion of sawdust or waste wood into bio-oil for the production of electricity or syngas, using a fixed fluidized bed pyrolyzer from Dynamotive.

In many industrial applications the process is done under pressure and at operating temperatures above 430°C (806°F). Anhydrous pyrolysis can also be used to produce liquid fuel similar to diesel from solid biomass or plastics [1]. The most common technique uses very low residence times (<2 seconds) and high heating rates using a temperature between 350-500 °C and is called either fast or flash pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BioOil’s potential use as a fossil fuel replacement is already well established. Customers for BioOil can include local, regional and national electrical utilities and power producers operating with partial or complete fuel substitution depending on scale and application. The opportunities for industrial applications are too numerous to list but some immediate applications in primary industry are kilns and boilers in pulp and paper, process heat in boilers in sawmills, metallurgy, oil and gas industries, as well as in secondary industries such as greenhouses, district heating and stationary engines.

Pyrolysis fuels have a very complex chemical composition, containing a multitude of different compounds. The specialty applications of these compounds in industrial processes and manufacturing are just beginning to be explored. They represent a potentially very large market for value-added products derived from BioOil.

Dynamotive Energy Systems | The Evolution of Energy