Re: "Formula for Biomass" and Charcoaling....

[Reedtb2@cs.com]

Dear All:

Ron said...

>  I have read
> a doctoral thesis with several thermocouples inside the pellet as it is
> pyrolyzing - and know the inside of the pellet is of course always lagging
> behind the outside (which you are measuring).   


Not quite.  Pyrolysis to make gas is endothermic, but the charcoal producing reactions are exothermic.  In conventional charcoal making heat must be driven in up to about 270C, but at that point the center of the particle becomes hotter than the outer edge and the reaction proceeds to about 425 C on its own.  So, in making SeaSweep (350 C) we have to water quench the particles down to 200 C for packaging.  

With fast pyrolysis things are more complicated.....

Yours truly,                 TOM REED