Pyrolysis turns biomass into chemical feedstock

‘Solar, wind, water and geothermal heat are all sources for renewable energy, whereas biomass is the only source for renewable chemicals. Feedstocks that are extracted from petroleum by the chemical industry can also be extracted from biomass. The change from oil- to biorefining is near’, says Paul de Wild of the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) in the thesis on his promotion research.

The increasing scarcity of fossil sources will unavoidably lead to a gradual change from oil refining to biorefining. Pyrolysis (thermal decomposition) can play an important role in biorefining. A biorefinery can convert various natural residual flows such as grasses and waste from crops and wood production into chemicals, heat, electricity and other products. In that case, a biorefinery is self-supporting, producing its own heat and electricity while not creating an environmental burden. ECN research focuses on biorefining of residual flows, i.e. the second generation of biomass feedstocks that do not compete with food supply.

Opportunities for biorefineries
Converting biomass into renewable feedstocks for the chemical industry is a complex process. New technologies for economic utilisation of biomass are being developed, but they are still unable to compete with petrochemical processes. The thesis of Paul de Wild addresses a number of pyrolysis techniques for biomass types such as hard wood, soft wood and straw, which are promising for biorefineries.

Applications and economic feasibility
After biomass has been converted through pyrolysis, the resulting chemicals can be used for various applications. They can be used in pure acetic acid, for example for cleaning products in the electronics industry, or as a component (polymer) for nylon, aromas and flavours in foods or wood adhesives or resins. These chemicals are currently mainly extracted from petroleum. Pyrolysis makes it possible to extract the same chemicals from biomass.
While looking at the economic aspects, the market value of the chemicals turned out to be higher than the value of heat and/or electricity. This means that from an economic point of view it is more interesting to go for biomass conversion into chemicals. However, the costs of a biorefinery focusing on chemicals are currently much higher than the costs of a biorefinery producing heat and electricity. As with many promising developments, this may change in the future.

You can read more about the conversion of biomass into chemicals by means of pyrolysis in the brief summary of the thesis of Paul de Wild.
The full text of the thesis ‘Biomass pyrolysis for chemicals' is available for download here:

Contact person at ECN
Paul de Wild
Transportation fuels & Chemicals
ECN Biomass, Coal & Environmental research
E-mail: dewild@ecn.nl
Phone: +31 (0) 224 564270