Conversion of solid wastes to fuels and chemicals through pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a thermal conversion method to convert solid wastes primarily into bio-oil and biochar in the absence of oxygen. The wastes include agriculture and forestry residues, municipal solid wastes, animal manure, and sewage sludge. Pyrolysis process conditions and reactor types depend on the target products and the properties of the solid wastes. An ever-increasing amount of these wastes can be an important source for pyrolysis because these wastes, in many circumstances, can be considered as a “negative-cost” feedstock. Both bio-oil and biochar have multiple applications that can be replaced for petroleum-based products such as fuels, chemicals, polymers, and activated carbons. This chapter reviews various types of solid wastes, reactor configurations, pyrolysis products’ properties and their distributions at different conditions, and applications of pyrolysis products.