A review on bio-oil production from biomass by using pyrolysis method

The paper provides an updated review on thermal conversion of biomass for the production of liquid products referred as bio-oil. This technology is described focusing on the characterization of feedstock, reactor design, products formation and upgrading. For feedstock characterization is covered in terms of several pretreatment methods. The reactor designs are illustrated number of design ranging from fixed bed to circulating fluidized bed. The properties of bio-oil composition have caused increasingly extensive research to be undertaken to address properties that need modification and this area is reviewed in terms of physical, catalytic and chemical upgrading. The mechanism of the products formation is also illustrated by several chemical routes. Reactor parameters such as heating rate, temperature of pyrolysis, catalysts etc are reviewed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.