What is Pyrolysis?

Pyrolysis is a process of chemically decomposing organic materials at elevated temperatures in the absence of
oxygen. The process typically occurs at temperatures above 430°C (800°F) and under pressure. It
simultaneously involves the change of physical phase and chemical composition, and is an irreversible
process. The word pyrolysis is coined from the Greek words "pyro" which means fire and "lysis" which means
separating.
Pyrolysis is commonly used to convert organic materials into a solid residue containing ash and carbon, small
quantities of liquid and gases. Extreme pyrolysis, on the other hand yields carbon as the residue and the
process is called carbonization. Unlike other high-temperature processes like hydrolysis and combustion,
pyrolysis does not involve reaction with water, oxygen or other reagents. However, as it is practically not
possible to achieve an oxygen- free environment, a small amount of oxidation always occurs in any pyrolysis
system.
At any given temperature the molecule is in vibrating stage. This is called molecular vibration. The frequency at
which molecules vibrates is the directly proportional to the temperature of molecules. During pyrolysis the
object’s molecules are subjected to very high temperatures leading to very high molecular vibrations. At these
high molecular vibrations, every molecule in the object is stretched and shaken to such an extent that
molecules starts breaking down into smaller molecules.
Simplest example of pyrolysis is food cooking. When you cook food the temperature of food increases leading
to higher molecular vibrations and breakdown of larger complex molecules into smaller and simple molecules.
After cooking larger food molecules are pyrolyzed into smaller in simpler molecules which are easy to digest.
Pyrolysis is also known as thermal cracking, cracking, thermolysis, depolymerization, etc.

What is pyrolysis when it comes to Waste Management?

Pyrolysis is the thermal processing of waste with a limited amount or absence of oxygen using some
combination of heat, pressure, and steam to convert materials directlyinto a gas.
Pyrolysis is an alternate to incineration for volumere duction and partial disposal of solid waste. A large portion
of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) is composed of long-chain hydrocarbonaceous material such as cellulose,
rubber, and plastic. This organic material represents a storehouse of organic building blocks that could be
retained as organic carbon. Pyrolysis is a process that is less regressive than incineration and recovers much
of the chemical energy.
Pyrolysis of municipal wastes begins with mechanical preparation and separation of glass, metals and inert
materials prior to processing the remaining waste in a pyrolysis reactor. The commonly used pyrolysis reactors
are rotary kilns, rotary hearth furnaces, and fluidized bed furnaces. The process requires an external heat
source to maintain the high temperature required. Pyrolysis can be performed at relatively small-scale which
may help in reducing transport and handling costs. In pyrolysis of MSW, heat transfer is a critical area as the
process is endothermic and sufficient heat transfer surface has to be provided to meet process heat
requirements.
Types of pyrolysis
There are several types of pyrolytic reactions differentiated by the processing time and temperature of the
biomass.
1. Slow Pyrolysis
Slow pyrolysis is characterized by lengthy solids and gas residence times, low temperatures and slow
biomass heating rates. In this mode, the heating temperatures ranges from 0.1 to 2°C (32.18 to 35.6°F)
 per second and the prevailing temperatures are nearly 500°C (932°F). The residence time of gas may
be over five seconds and that of biomass may range from minutes to days.
During slow pyrolysis, tar and char are released as main products as the biomass is slowly
devolatilized. Repolymerization/recombination reactions occur after the primary reactions take place.
2. Flash Pyrolysis
Flash pyrolysis occurs at rapid heating rates and moderate temperatures between 400 and 600°C (752
and 1112°F). However, vapor residence time of this process is less than 2s. Flash pyrolysis produces
fewer amounts of gas and tar when compared to slow pyrolysis.
3. Fast Pyrolysis
This process is primarily used to produce bio-oil and gas. During the process, biomass is rapidly heated
to temperatures of 650 to 1000°C (1202 to 1832°F) depending on the desired amount of bio-oil or gas
products. Char is accumulated in large quantities and has to be removed frequently.
a. Microwave Pyrolysis
Fast pyrolysis has been shown to benefit from the use of microwave heating. Biomass typically
absorbs microwave radiation very well, making heating of the material highly efficient - just like
microwave heating of food, it can reduce the time taken to initiate the pyrolysis reactions, and also
greatly reduces the energy required for the process. Because microwave heating can initiate
pyrolysis at much lower overall temperatures (sometimes as low as 200-300°C), it has been
found that the bio-oil produced contains higher concentrations of more thermally labile, higher value
chemicals, suggesting that microwave bio-oil could be used as a replacement to crude oil as a
feedstock for some chemical processes.

Pyrolysis Reactors
Some of the reactors used in pyrolysis process include the following:
1. Bubbling Fluidized Bed Pyrolyzers
Fluidized beds are generally simple to construct and design when compared to other reactor types.
Bubbling fluidized bed pyrolyzers have large heat storage capacity, better temperature control,
excellent heat transfer characteristics and better gas-solids contact. In this pyrolyzer, the residence
time of vapors and solids are controlled by the fluidizing gas flow rate. During the pyrolysis reaction,
char acts as a catalyst in cracking vapors. Char is finally collected by an entrainment processes.
2. Circulating Fluid Beds and Transported Bed
Circulating fluidized bed pyrolyzers have similar characteristics as that of bubbling bed pyrolyzers
excluding that the residence time of vapors and char is faster due to higher gas velocities. These
pyrolyzers have better gas-solid contact, high processing capacity and potential to deal with cohesive
solids that might otherwise be hard enough to fluidize in bubbling fluidized beds.
3. Ablative Pyrolyzer (e.g. Rotary Kilns and Rotary Hearth Furnaces)
The ablative pyrolyzer, on the other hand, was designed such that the heat transferred from a hot
reactor wall tends to soften the feedstock under pressure. Large feedstock particles can be pyrolyzed in
this pyrolyzer as the reaction rates are not influenced by heat transfer via the biomass particle. These
pyrolyzers ensure high relative motion between the reactor wall and the particle and high pressure of
particle on hot reactor wall. It avoids the need of inert gas and hence its processing equipment is small
and reaction system is more intense.
Applications
Some of the major applications of pyrolysis include the following:
1. It is widely used in chemical industry to produce methanol, activated carbon, charcoal and other
substances from wood.
2. Synthetic gas produced from the conversion of waste using pyrolysis can be used in gas or steam
turbines for producing electricity.
3. A mixture of stone, soil, ceramics and glass obtained from pyrolytic waste can be used as a building
material - construction slag or for filling landfill cover liners.
4. It plays a major role in carbon-14 dating and mass spectrometry.
5. It is also used for several cooking procedures like caramelizing, grilling, frying and baking.
Pyrolysis of biomass produces three products - a liquid, a gas and a solid:
1. Bio-oil: comes from the combustible gases of the process, which are condensed, into a liquid. Bio-oil
can be used as a low grade diesel oil.
2. Bio-char: is the solid material that is created in the process. Biochar is being promoted for its potential
to improve soil properties and fertility as well as sequester carbon.
3. Syngas: are the permanent gases (CO-2, CO, H2, light hydrocarbons) that remain after the pyrolysis
process is complete. Syngas can be used in place of natural gas or converted with catalysts to ethanol.
Advantages of Pyrolysis
The key benefits of pyrolysis include the following:
1. It is a simple, inexpensive technology for processing a wide variety of feedstocks.
2. It reduces wastes going to landfill and greenhouse gas emissions.
3. It reduces the risk of water pollution.
4. It has the potential to reduce the country’s dependence on imported energy resources by generating
energy from domestic resources.
5. Waste management with the help of modern pyrolysis technology is inexpensive than disposal to
landfills.
6. Construction of a pyrolysis power plant is a relatively rapid process.
7. It creates several new jobs for low-income people based on the quantities of waste generated in the
region, which in turn provides public health benefits through waste clean up.
8. Byproducts such as bio fuel are less carbon-intensive than fossil fuels and is compatible with our
existing transportation infrastructure.
Disadvantages of Pyrolysis
1. Higher capital and operational costs compared to mass burn incineration.
2. Increased technical experience is required to operate the pyrolysis equipment compared to mass burn
incineration.
3. Air purification installation is necessary in order to further treat flue gases from the pyrolysis.
4. Produced ashes contain a high heavy metal content, depending on the concentrations in the to-be-
processed flow. These ashes are regarded as dangerous waste and must also be disposed of.
5. Quality of bio-oil is low-grade and cannot be used in all applications where fossil fuels are used.