Autothermal fluidized bed pyrolysis of Cuban pine sawdust

Oxidative pyrolysis of Cuban pine sawdust was investigated using an autothermal fluidized bed reactor. Biomass particles were fed continuously (8.13 Kg/h) in a bed, fluidized by air gas. Experiments were conduced at three different dimensionless air factors 1, 1.5, and 2 (defined as ratio of actual air flow rate to stoichiometric air flow rate). The various physical and chemical characteristics of the pyrolysis products acquired in these conditions were identified. The results indicated that (1) the operating temperature can be correlated with the air factor; (2) the higher air factor promotes high temperature and contributes to the secondary reactions, which lead to less liquid; (3) the physicochemical characterization of the pyrolysis products indicated that the air factor, in the range studied, does not have a notable influence in their properties; (4) the liquid and char products obtained may be a potentially valuable source of chemical feedstocks.