Lignin pyrolysis

What is it?
Lignin from different sources is pyrolysed (thermally depolymerised without molecular oxygen) in a bubbling fluidised bed reactor (5 kWth) at 500°C and atmospheric pressure into a phenolic bio-oil and biochar.

What does it mean for the customer?
The resulting lignin bio-oil and biochar are candidates for further conversion into biochemicals, biomaterials and biofuels. For example, lignin bio-oil is rich in phenolic compounds and can be used to replace petrochemical phenol in many applications such as particle board and plywood resins.

What can ECN do for you?
ECN can produce test samples (up to 1 kg) of lignin pyrolysis-oil and lignin biochar using 1 - 5 kg/hr continuous pyrolysis reactors. ECN can participate and offer specialised expertise in private partnerships, and in national and international biorefinery projects. Partners are the chemical industry, the agricultural and construction sector and research institutes and universities.

More information?
A general overview of ECN's biorefinery activities can be downloaded here.