Abstract
Rapid pyrolysis of pulverized cellulose was performed in a reactor that consisted of two zones for the primary pyrolysis of cellulose and gas-phase crecking of nascent volatiles at ambient pressure, residence time of the volatiles up to 6 s, and temperature of 973 to 1073 K. Pyrolysis was also carried out for investigating gas-phase partial oxidation of volatiles from cedar sawdust with another two-stage reactor similar to the above at temperature and residence time of the volatiles of 973 K and 4 s, respectively. Changes in the gas phase composition along with progress of cracking and that of the partial oxidation were analyzed by a detailed chemical kinetic model that comprised 534 chemical species and 3,665 elementary reactions. The model-predicted time dependent changes in the concentrations of more than 20 species were in broad agreement with those measured, thus demonstrating comprehensive capability of the model in predicting chemistry of the gas-phase cracking and partial oxidation.
