Pyrolysis Oil from Biomass

Introduction

Pyrolysis Oil is a product of anaerobic distillation of biomass. Upon heating of wood or other biomass in an air-tight chamber, the gases that are produced may be liquified by cooling. These gases condense to an oil - pyrolysis oil. This oil may be used as a dense fuel source - for applications such as heating and steam engines. It may be burned by a burner such as the Babington_Burner. As such, this is the lower-tech substitute for diesel fuel - though at present it cannot be substituted for diesel. Both Synthesis and pyrolisis oil are a way towards a biofuel future.

Student Projects

A great experiment that can be done in a semester is the construction of a simple distillation apparatus to test the procedure with wood chips or newspaper - and to measure the purity and composition of the resulting fuel.

More Information

Contact

contact joseph.dolittle at gmail dot com for more information