Pyrolysis is a thermochemical treatment, which can be applied to any

organic (carbon-based) product. It can be done on pure products as

well as mixtures. In this treatment, material is exposed to high
temperature, and in the absence of oxygen goes through chemical
and physical separation into different molecules. The decomposition
takes place thanks to the limited thermal stability of chemical bonds
of materials, which allows them to be disintegrated by using the heat.
Thermal decomposition leads to the formation of new molecules.
This allows to receive products with a different, often more superior
character than original residue. Thanks to this feature, pyrolysis
becomes increasingly important process for today industry – as it
allows to bring far greater value to common materials and waste.
Pyrolysis is frequently associated with thermal treatment. But in
contrary to combustion and gasifications processes, which involve
entire or partial oxidation of material, pyrolysis bases on heating in
the absence of air. This makes it mostly endothermic process that
ensure high energy content in the products received.
Pyrolysis products always produce solid (charcoal, biochar), liquid
and non-condensable gases (H2, CH4, CnHm, CO, CO2 and N). As
the liquid phase is extracted from pyrolysis gas only during it’s
cooling down, in some applications, these two streams can be used
together when providing hot syngas directly to the burner or
oxidation chamber.
During the pyrolysis, a particle of material is heated up from the
ambient to defined temperature (setup temperature of Biogreen®
equipment). The material remains inside the pyrolysis unit and is
transported by screw conveyor at defined speed, until the completion
of the process. Chosen temperature of pyrolysis defines the
composition and yields of products (pyrolysis oil, syngas and char).

What influences pyrolysis process results?

 treated material composition – each of the major
constituents of biomass and waste feature different
temperatures of thermal decomposition, which means they
contribute to the results of process in different way. Due to
high diversity of material compositions it is always
recommended to perform a pilot tests to forecast the
pyrolysis process performance in most accurate way.
 temperature of process – has a major influence to the
treatment results. Higher temperatures of pyrolysis provide
greater quantity of non-condensable gases (syngas,
synthetic gas), while lower temperatures favour the
production of high quality solid product (charcoal, bio-coal,
torrefied fuels). Temperature is a factor fully controllable in
Biogreen® process thanks to electrically heated screw
conveyor that allows precise setup of treatment conditions

 residence time of material in the pyrolysis chamber –

influences the degree of thermal conversion of received
solid product as well as the residence time of the vapour,
which influences the composition of vapours
(condensable / non-condensable phase). Residence time
can be precisely controlled in Biogreen® process by
changing the rotation speed of screw conveyor
(Spirajoule®) transporting material along the reactor.
 particle size and physical structure – influences the speed
in which material is subjected to pyrolysis. In general,
lower particle size materials are quicker affected by the
thermal decomposition, which can result in greater
quantities of pyrolysis oil than in case of larger particle
size.
What is Biochar?
Biochar is a super charcoal made by heating any biomass –
for example, corncob, husk or stalk, potato or soy hay, rice or
wheat straw – without oxygen. All of the cellulose, lignin and
other, non-carbon materials gasify and are burned away. What
remains is pure carbon – 40% of the carbon originally
contained in the biomass.
Why is it so valuable?
Climate change is threatening food security around the world.
When farmers use Biochar as a soil amendment they will
benefit from:
• Bigger yields   • Healthier soil   • Lower acidity   • Better
water retention 
• Stronger plants   • Richer soil life   • Less contamination   •
Higher fertility 
 • Promotes seed germination 
Biochar seems to have no end of uses that derive from a
handful of key characteristics.
Tiny holes, huge surface area – retaining water for a dry
day
If you look at biochar under an electron microscope, you see
an extraordinary moonscape of holes upon holes. What’s this
mean? Biochar is an amazing sponge that will hold (absorb)
huge amounts of water. All those little holes also provide very
convenient condos for soil microbes; we’ll revisit this below.
pH of 8 – unlocking even poor soil’s nutrients
Plants like soil that has a nice, neutral pH of say 6.5 to 7, but
most soils in the developing world are acid to very acid – 4 to
5.5. In soils this acidic, most plants cannot take up nutrients,
even if they are present in the soil. Stick some biochar in this
soil, however, and you can push the pH as much as a whole
point higher. As the pH rises, more and more nutrients
become available to crops.
Electrically charged surface – very attractive to chemicals
Biochar is attractive to chemicals of all types. Stick a bit of
pure carbon biochar in the soil and six months later it is
covered with scales of calcium, iron, magnesium,
phosphorous, potassium, and sulphur. It’s become a little
mineral ball. Sprinkle fertilizer on the soil and instead of
seeing 50% of it leach away with the rain, that fertilizer, too,
will glom onto the biochar, providing long-lasting, slow-
release nutrition. Stick biochar in a heavy metal contaminated
field and soon the cadmium, lead or mercury are chemically
bound to it (adsorbed) where plants can no longer take them
up and water can no longer wash them away.
Bug friendly – encouraging soil life
Plants can’t eat their elements raw. No matter how much they
need nitrogen, they can’t just suck it up; they need microbes
to digest it first and pee it out as nitrates or nitrites. If you
look at the root systems of plants, you find all sorts of similar,
collaborative relationships. To put it differently, if you don’t
see such relationships, chances are, you can’t grow anything. 
How do you make Biochar?
Biochar production is a simple process that anyone can do.
Warm Heart has designed cheap and easy methods for
converting biomass waste into biochar. The simplest and
cheapest method is to dig a hole in the ground. You can also
build a cheap biochar oven using an old oil drum, or build a
trough.
Whichever method is used, the process is the same, biomass is
burned with a lack of oxygen, turning the biomass in biochar,
smoke free.

Benefits of making Biochar

If you live in the developed world, field fires are a thing of the
past. If you live in the developing world, smoke from
agricultural field fires can obscure the sun for days.

Field fires are often smoky, slow smolders burning the residue
of crops containing fertilizers fortified with nitrogen and
sulphur. These generate large quantities of greenhouse gases
(GHGs) such as methane and the NOxs (nitrous oxides) that
are many times more warming than CO2. (Methane has a
global warming potential (GWP) of 25, NOx 298!)
They also produce large quantities of smog precursors such as
ammonia and the SOx (sulphur oxides) that react with
sunlight to form smog. Finally, that smoke that blocks the sun
is PM2.5 – particulate matter so small that it passes through
the walls of the lungs into the bloodstream to wreak havoc
throughout the body.
Crop waste eliminated through the process of making biochar
produces no smoke.
Every year, farmers in the developing world burn more than
10 billion tonnes of crop wastes in their fields. This releases
16.6 billion tonnes of CO2, 11.2 billion tonnes of CO2e, 1.1
billion tonnes of smog precursors and 65.7 million tonnes of
PM2.5 into the atmosphere. The combined annual CO 2 and
CO2e emissions from crop waste burning are equivalent to the
annual emissions of 714 coal fired power plants.
The alternative – converting the waste into biochar instead of
burning it removes three tons CO2 from the atmosphere for
every ton produced; when added to fields as a soil
amendment, that carbon is permanently sequestered.
The long term benefits of making biochar is a huge reduction
of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Solution for a healthier planet
Biochar production is not limited to just replacing agricultural
field burning in the developing world, anywhere there is a
need to remove biomass there is an opportunity to make
biochar.
Globally we all need recognize it as a powerful solution to
reducing global warming. Even your hometown can
participate and reap the benefits of biochar, learn more about
how your town can help save the world!
The many uses of Biochar
While it may be invaluable for farmers, it has many other
practical uses too. The absorption qualities of biochar make it
a perfect solution for odor control, useful for eliminating
unwanted odors: in cars, homes, compost piles, pet odors,
closets, bathrooms, even in stinky old sneakers!
The powerful moisture adsorption quality makes it extremely
helpful in cutting down mildew in damp areas.
 Co-pyrolysis is a process which involves two or more
materials as feedstock. Many studies have shown that
the use of co-pyrolysis is able to improve the
characteristics of pyrolysis oil, e.g. increase the oil yield,
reduce the water content, and increase the caloric value
of oil.
 They are different conceptions. One of the significant
difference is their production temperature. Biochar was
usually made from biomass at lower temperature less
than 700℃ under anaerobic conditions, while activated
carbon was produced from prepared carbon at higher
temperatures more than 700℃ (e.g. 800-1000 ℃) with
activated gas such as steam, flue gas, etc. As such, thier
properties are different as for specific surface (physical)
and functional groups (chemical). Usually the activated
carbon has a higher specific surface while biochar has
more abundant surface functional groups. Moreover,
activated carbon is an old conception while biochar is a
quite young and popular name.
