Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

2000, 39, 893-903 893

The Cyclone: A Multifunctional Reactor for the Fast Pyrolysis of

Biomass
Jacques Lédé*
Laboratoire des Sciences du Genie Chimique, CNRS-ENSIC-INPL, 1, rue Grandville, BP 451,
54001 Nancy Cedex, France

This paper reports the experimental results of the fast pyroysis of wood sawdust performed in
two different cyclone reactors. The mass balances are close to 100% and the char fractions always
smaller than 3%. The flexibility of the cyclone reactor is such that, according to the operating
conditions, it can be used either for the fast gasification or for the fast liquefaction of biomass.
Side experiments reveal that a fraction of the gaseous products can be used as the carrier gas
(recycling process) without noticeable changes of the gas composition and with fast gasification
yields close to 100%. It is shown that the vapor-phase cracking reactions mainly occur inside a
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very thin and hot boundary layer close to the heated surface of the cyclone. The results of the
modeling of these phenomena are used to derive kinetic constants that prove to be in very good
agreement with those of the literature. The conclusion is that the cyclone appears as a very
efficient multifunctional reactor making it possible to perform in less than a second heating
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and pyrolysis of the reactants as well as the quenching and separation of the products.

Introduction interactions between chemical mechanisms of biomass

1. Flash Pyrolysis of Biomass. Probably the oldest
objective of biomass pyrolysis is the preparation of
charcoal. The yields are usually around 30%, but values
up to more than 60% have been claimed recently.1 The
reactions have large characteristic times: from several
minutes up to several hours. However, in the 1970s
appeared the concept of fast pyrolysis:2 it was a new
type of pyroysis performed under conditions of high
available heat flux densities and/or high temperatures.
The reaction was usually performed with small particles
of biomass in order to enhance the apparent rates of
reaction. The characteristic times ranged in the domain
of fractions of seconds. The main objectives were to find
the conditions enhancing the production of gaseous
products. Several years later, the objectives progres-
sively changed because of the great number of potential
uses of volatiles and liquid products formed during the
fast pyrolysis. One of the reasons for this evolution has
been the discovery of the so-called ablative pyrolysis,
during which biomass is heated by more or less direct
contact with a moving hot surface.3,4 The reaction that
can be performed with big pieces of biomass has been
shown to produce high yields of liquids. Since that time,
interest in the production of gases by fast pyrolysis (fast
gasification of biomass) has declined, and now fast
pyrolysis is mainly considered for bio-oil production.5
At the same time, many papers are still published in
the field of usual (slow) gasification for the prepration
of CO and H2 gas mixtures (for energetic purposes, the
preparation of hydrogen, and/or the operation of fuel
cells, ...).5
2. Cyclone Reactor. Fluid bed reactors that have
proven to work satisfactorily for biomass fast pyrolysis
are the subject of many investigations. Unfortunately,
no definitive model exists for a reliable scaling up. The
main reason is that its behavior is the result of unclear
* Tel.: +33 (0) 3 83 17 52 40. Fax: +33 (0) 3 83 32 29 75.
E-mail: Jacques.Lede@ensic.inpl-nancy.fr.
10.1021/ie990623p CCC: $19.00 © 2000 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 03/17/2000
thermal decomposition, complex fluid dynamics, and
heat- and mass-transfer phenomena. Such a complexity
also prevents the fluid bed reactor from being the best
laboratory device for kinetic studies. In addition, if such
a reactor is universally used for gas-solid reactions, it
has no reason for being ideally adapted to chemical
systems of the solid f fluid products types. Conse-
quently, it seems attractive to study other possible types
of contactors, which offer the following features:
(i) the flow behavior and the transfer processes of both
the solid and gas phases could be easily studied;
(ii) several functions could occur simultaneously
(heating, reaction, separation, ...);
(iii) different objectives (gas or liquid productions)
could be considered by simply modifying the operating
conditions.
Some of these different concepts rely on the phenom-
enon of ablative pyrolysis. The more or less direct
contact of the particles with a moving hot surface can
be obtained in reactors where the particles are thrown
against hot walls under the influence of centrifugal
forces. This is, for example, the case of the vortex
cylindrical reactor developped by Diebold.6 It is also
possible to use the traditional cyclone reactor worldwide
used for gas-solid separations. The particles flow
against the heated walls, where they are heated and
then pyrolyze. The solid residues are automatically
separated at the bottom, while the gases and vapors
leave the cyclone at the top.7 All these phenomena occur
in the same vessel sometimes in less than 1 s. We should
recall that in many of the usual pyrolysis processes a
cyclone separator follows the main reactor. If the cyclone
is the reactor itself, then only one vessel is needed.
The general properties of the cyclone considered as a
chemical reactor have been extensively studied, and
scaling up rules have been established for the flow
behavior and transfer phenomena with cyclone diam-
eters ranging from 2.8 × 10-2 to 40 × 10-2 m.8-12 One
of the results is that the hydrodynamics of the particles
894 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000
Table 1. Geometrical Main Characteristics of the Two Cyclones A and B and Extreme Values of the Experimental
Parametersa
DC SC VC Qsteam QHe/Ar
cyclone (m × 102) (m2 × 103) (m3 × 106) (kg s-1 × 104) (kg s-1 × 104)
A 2.8 8.06 46.2 2.23 He, 0.17
B 4 16.9 140.7 1.89-11.1 Ar, 0.41-2.4
a The residence times τ of the gases as well as the Reynolds numbers Re are only estimates that are calculated at inlet conditions.
G o
The solid residence times τS are calculated from the scaling up relationships given in ref 10.
is quite close to that of a plug flow, leading to much
better selectivities than, for example, in a fluidized bed.
In addition, the residence time of the particles can be
easily and quantitatively adjusted by simply changing
the flow rate of the carrier gas. It increases as the
residence time of the gas decreases (a very favorable
situation allowing the total conversion of the solids
associated with a possible quench of the evolved gases
and vapors mixture).
3. Aim of the Present Paper. This paper gathers
the results of experiments of biomass fast pyrolysis
performed with two bench-scale cyclones having vol-
umes in a ratio close to 3. The aim is to compare the
results obtained under very different experimental
conditions in order to bring a good credibility to the
knowledge of the behavior of such a reactor and hence
give reliable data for a future possible scaling up. Such
an approach seems particularly important in the specific
domain of biomass pyrolysis, where too many published
and empirical models prove to be valid only for the
specific devices in which they have been derived, and
hence offer little possibility for a reliable scaling up.
The paper will mainly stand on a fundamental point
of view by presenting several new and interesting
properties of the cyclone reactor. The main purpose will
be to show its potentialities for processing biomass
pyrolysis but also for performing basic studies.
In the first part we will show the high ability of the
cyclone for preparing either gases or condensables
according to the operating conditions. Then, a new
interesting possibility of performing fast gasification
without the use of carrier gas (recycling process) will
be reported. Finally, the experimental results will be
used for the modeling of the mechanisms of the second-
ary vapor-phase crackings for which kinetic constants
will be derived.
Experimental Apparatus and Procedures
This paper relies on the results obtained with two
standard, separator-type cyclone reactors, respectively
denoted cyclone A and cyclone B. Table 1 gathers a few
characteristics of these two cyclones as well as the
extreme values of the operating parameters. More
details have already been published for the experiments
done with cyclone A.7 The studies performed with
cyclone B have been the subject of a Ph.D. report,13 the
results of which have not been published yet. It is
noteworthy that the extreme values of the biomass
particle sizes range between 0.2 × 10-3 and 1 × 10-3 m
(Table 1) and are hence quite similar to those usually
found in most laboratory-scale circulating bed reactors
(less than 10-3 m). The situation would be, of course,
quite different in the case of larger units, where larger
size particles could be used, reducing the cost associated
with particle size reduction. Notice that for larger
particle sizes the overall modeling of the process would
QMB 2R
Reo (kg s-1 × 105) TW (K) (m × 103) τG (s) τS (s)
2000 3.8-10 893-1327 0.2-0.4 0.08 0.3
4000-17 000 6.9-13.2 1080-1190 0.2-0.4 0.04-0.15 0.5-1.8
0.4-0.8
0.8-1.0
have to take into account the heat- and mass-transfer
resistances inside the particles.
The principles of the setup corresponding to the two
cyclones are globally the sames. A known flow rate of
beech wood sawdust delivered by a calibrated screw
feeder is rapidly mixed with a small flow of inert gas
(He in the case of cyclone A or Ar in the case of cyclone
B) and then transported by a known flow rate of steam.
The mixture enters tangentially the cyclone reactor.
The walls of cyclone A are heated by radiation inside
an alumina cavity settled at the focus of a 6-kW solar
furnace. The temperature of the walls is easily adjusted
by modulating the aperture of a diaphragm located
between the focus and the mirror of the furnace. The
walls of cyclone B are heated by an electrical element
coiled around its external surface.
The solid byproducts of the reaction are automatically
separated in an easily removable hopper situated at the
bottom of the cyclones. The gaseous mixture (gases,
vapors, and aerosols) leaves the cyclone at its top and
flows through condensers, where steam and vapors are
condensed. Notice that a specific cyclone cooled at its
walls has also proved to be a very efficient condenser.
The aerosols are then trapped by passage of the gases
through a bed of cotton wool. The instantaneous flow
rate and total volume of the gases evolved by the
reaction are then measured with a volumetric flow
meter at the end of the chain. The composition of the
nontrapped products is determined by gas chromatog-
raphy analysis (HWD and FID).
Several thermocouples measure the temperatures of
the gases entering and leaving the reactor. The cyclone
wall temperature is calculated from the mean indication
of three thermocouples welded or inserted inside the
stainless steel heated walls. Table 2 reports two typical
experiments in which the liquid products are separated
from the condensed water by extraction in chloroform
and then isolated by evaporation of the solvent at 303
K over 48 h under reduced pressure.
Other results obtained at much lower wall tempera-
tures can be found in ref 7. It must be reminded that it
is now well established that these values are usually
much higher than those of the pyrolyzing solid (because
of the competition between endothermal kinetics and
internal heat-transfer resistances). The values of TW are
hence not representative of the true temperature of the
wood that has been shown4,14 to react around about 740
K. As in any other existing pyrolyzer, this true solid
temperature cannot be directly and accurately mea-
sured.
Results
1. Mass Balances. Table 2 reports the main results
of two typical experiments made with cyclones A and
B. It can be seen that the mass balances are excellent
in both cases: respectively 100.54% and 100.14%.
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000 895

Table 2. Mass Balances of Two Typical Experiments Performed Under Very Different Conditions with the Two
Cyclones A and B
cyclone A cyclone B
inlet temperature To (K) 454 673
wall temperature TW (K) 1321 1166
outlet temperature TS (K) 773 896
duration of the steam flow (s) 5900 10 800
duration of the pyrolysis process (s) 4304 5280
reactants (kg × 103) dry wood 344.32 389.92
steam 1315.7 4349.29
humidity of wood 45.71 50.02
total 1705.73 4789.23
products (kg × 103) dry gases 279.00 309.10
humidity of the gases 8.70 19.87
solids separated 13.90 18.68
condensed water and pyrolysis liquids 1409.00 4438.10
aerosols 4.30 10.00
total 1714.90 4795.75
mass balances (%) (products/reactants) 100.54 100.14
mass fractions calculated with respect to the total amount of dry gases 78.93 77.97
the recovered product (%) pyrolysis liquids 15.92 14.80
solids separated 3.93 4.71
aerosols 1.22 2.52

Table 3. Dry Pyrolysis Gas Composition (vol %)

2. Char Fractions Separated at the Bottom of Corresponding to the Two Typical Experiments
the Cyclones. In the 22 experiments performed in the Described in Table 2
two cyclones, the minimum and maximum of the
cyclone
separated solid fractions are respectively 2.8% and
6%,7,13 with in both cases average values close to 4%. gas A B
These values include the 1-2% mineral ash matter of H2 27.9 21.7
wood (1.55% in the case of the experiment reported in CO 42.6 44.5
Table 2 for cyclone B13). It is hence possible to perform CO2 10.5 16.2
the flash pyrolysis of biomass in a cyclone reactor with CH4 10.6 8.3
C2H2 1.1 5.3
only 2-3% of organic solid residues, the remainder (i.e., C2H4 6.3 4.0
about 97% calculated on a dry wood basis) being C2H6 0.8 4.0
completely transformed into gases and condensable C3H6 0.2
vapors under a pressure close to 1 bar. gas density (kg m-3 STP) 0.946 1.100
The very low char fractions obtained even with the heating value (kJ m-3) 18 500 17 600
lowest wall temperatures of around 900 K7 is a conse-
for cyclone A. Cyclone B leads to higher values of X for
quence of the very fast heating rates experienced by the
given wall temperatures, in agreement with the model
particles inside the reactor. The same result is also
that will be presented in a next section. For example,
usually observed in other ablative pyrolysis reactors,
Table 2 gives a value of X for cyclone B similar to that
even with massive pieces of wood and moderately hot
for cyclone A but for only TW ) 1166 K.
surfaces. These low char fractions are hence not a direct
4. Gas Composition. Table 3 gives the compositions
consequence of the size of the wood particles used in
of the gases for the two typical experiments described
the experiments in the present work.
in Table 2. The total fractions of H2 and CO reach about
3. Vapors and Gas Fractions. Let us define the fast
70%. It has also been shown7 that these fractions as well
gasification yield of the reaction as
as those of CH4 do not significantly depend on wall
temperature. The reaction also produces important
weight of dry (noncondensible) gas evolved quantities of other hydrocarbons, such as C2H4, C2H2,
X) (1)
weight of dry wood pyrolyzed C2H6, and C3H6. Their fractions, particularly for C2H4,
increase with TW. Their total mass fractions can reach
Because of the very low fractions of solid residues, it 20% at high temperatures.
can be supposed that the fast liquefaction (fraction of For both cyclones and all 22 experiments, the gases
condensables) yield is close to 1 - X. have mass densities close to 1 kg m-3 (the extreme
With cyclone A, where the experiments have been values are 0.95 and 1.17). For the highest values of X,
done with large variations of the wall temperature, X 1 kg of dry wood produces approximately 1 m3 (STP) of
varies from approximately 0.16 for TW ) 893 K to 0.93 dry gas. The heating value of the gas increases from
for TW ) 1327 K,7 showing that, according to the approximately 13 500 kJ m-3 (STP) at low temperature
experimental conditions, the cyclone can be used for the to 19 000 kJ m-3 (STP) for the highest temperatures.
production of either high yields of gases (fast gasifica- Such an increase is a consequence of the increasing
tion) or high yields of condensable vapors (fast liquefac- fraction of the hydrocarbons (about 50% of the total
tion). It has been shown that the extrapolation of these heating value is due to these hydrocarbons at high
results to X ) 0 leads to a wall temperature between temperatures). These heating values of the gases ob-
700 and 800 K, corresponding to the domain of the so- tained by fast gasification are notably higher than those
called fusion temperature of wood.14 Table 2 gives an of the gases obtained in usual gasification processes (4-
example of the mass fractions of the recovered products. 6000 kJ m-3 in air gasifiers and about 12 000 kJ m-3
For example, for TW ) 1321 K, the value of X is 0.789 in O2 gasifiers). Another advantage of the fast gasifica-
896 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000
tion is the high productivities possible from the much
higher rates of the fast pyrolysis processes than in the
case of the usual gasification processes.
5. Maximum Capacity of the Cyclone Reactor.
For high biomass flow rates, it is generally observed that
after a certain time of operation, the wall temperature
suddenly rises, while the pyrolysis reaction seems to
stop. At the same time, a clogging of the whole reactor
is observed. The maximum capacity of the cyclone can
be defined as the maximum throughput of biomass
under which the clogging never occurs (or after a
theoretical infinite time). For example, for a wall
temperature of the order of 1200-1300 K, this maxi-
mum is of the order of 350 × 10-3 kg h-1 for cyclone A
and increases to about 500 × 10-3 kg h-1 for cyclone B.
These high capacities are noteworthy for such relatively
small reactors (see their volumes in Table 1). Under
these limiting values, the two cyclones can be expected
to operate without limitation of time. This point has
been verified with cyclone B but, of course, not with
cyclone A, because of the nature of the heating source
(direct solar concentration radiation). For both cyclones,
the ratios of the maximum throughput over the heated
surface of the reactor are very similar and close to 9 ×
10-3 kg s-1 m-2. This value is similar to that of the
vortex reactor described by Diebold6 for processing at
15 kg h-1 of biomass. Such a good agreement should be
taken into account in a future scaling up of the cyclone
reactor.
The clogging phenomenon is likely to occur by ag-
glomeration of the sawdust particles through the inter-
mediate liquid species formed during the primary
pyrolysis depolymerization reactions of pyrolysis15 (step
1 in Figure 2, below). It has been shown10,12 that the
plug flow of the particles results, in fact, from a
succession of particle-particle collisions. The clogging
probably begins when the mean free time between two
collisions is much lower than the necessary time of
vaporization of these intermediate liquid species (step
3 in Figure 2). These problems will be more extensively
described in the discussion at the end of the paper.
6. Complete Fast Gasification with Recycling of
the Pyroysis Gases. One of the drawbacks of the
entrained bed-type reactors is the need to use a carrier
gas (rare gas and/or steam). In addition, the residence
time of the particles must be high enough to ensure
conversion yields close to 100%. Because of the specific
characteristics of the cyclone reactor,9,12 these conditions
need small enough carrier gas residence times and,
hence, relatively high gas flow rates. An interesting
solution for solving these problems is to recycle a
fraction of the gaseous pyrolysis products and to use
them as the carrier gas.
Figure 1 shows the experimental setup used to
perform a few feasibility tests with cyclone B under
steady-state conditions. Only the modified part of the
setup is represented, the upstream system of biomass
feeding and the downstream chain of analysis being the
sames as those described above. All the practical details
are gathered in ref 13, and only a summarized descrip-
tion is reported in the present paper.
A fraction of the products leaving the top of the
cyclone is recycled through the intermediate of an
electrical high-temperature fan (volume, 0.014 m3;
maximum temperature of operation, 923 K; 6000 rpm).
A diaphragm located before the fan measures the
recycled flow rate. After leaving the fan, the gases are
Figure 1. Schematic representation of the experimental setup
used in the recycling process (cyclone B).
separated into two fractions. The first one crosses the
end of the screw feeder. The second one is mixed to this
concentrated gas solid suspension just before the inlet
of the cyclone. A small flow rate of argon is maintained
through the screw feeder. All the stainless steel pipes
are thermally isolated, but the section before the screw
feeder is artificially heated (573 K) in order to balance
the losses of heat inside the fan.
Table 4 reports the results of three of these experi-
ments. They are compared to those of the typical
experiment described in Tables 2 and 3 in the case of
the steam process and performed with cyclone B under
similar values of TW. The residence times in the
recycling loop are calculated on the basis of the whole
loop volume (assuming that it can behave as a stirred
zone because of the high values of the recycling flow).
The residence times in the cyclone are calculated on the
basis of the mean gas temperature between its inlet and
outlet. The small inaccuracies observed in the mass
balances are probably due to small gas leaks in the fan.
As for Table 2, the aim of Table 4 is to report results
of some typical experiments. Among the different re-
ported conditions, the duration of the pyrolysis process
has been imposed by several experimental circum-
stances and has, of course, nothing to do with the
maximum possible time of operation of the cyclone.
The possibility of performing biomass fast pyrolysis
by using the gas products as the carrier gas does not
seem to have been published yet in the literature. The
results show the following:
(i) Fast gasification yields can reach 95% with, at the
same time, very low fractions of char and almost no
recovery of liquids.
(ii) The gas composition (H2, CO, CO2, CH4) is only
slightly changed. Only a small decrease in the hydro-
carbons fraction seems to occur with a subsequent
decrease in the corresponding heating value of the gas
mixture. This phenomenon, which would have to be
confirmed, could result from secondary reactions inside
the loop, where the residence time can reach more than
5 min.
(iii) The similar composition of the gases between the
steam and the recycling processes confirms that the
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000 897

Table 4. Comparison of the Results Obtained in the Recycling Process with Those Described in Table 2 and
Corresponding to the Simple Steam Processa
recycling process
steam process (Table 2)
inlet temperature To (K) 617 622 675 673
wall temperature TW (K) 1196 1199 1204 1166
outlet temperature TS (K) 889 941 930 896
duration of the pyrolysis process (s) 3960 5400 3312 5280
dry wood pyrolyzed (kg × 103) 262.5 147.8 104.5 389.92
argon flow rate (m3 s-1 STP) 12 × 10-5 4.6 × 10-5 1.1 × 10-5 5.34 × 10-5
recycling flow rates (m3 s-1 STP) 1.14 × 10 -3 0.8 × 10-3 1.34 × 10-3 4 × 10-4 kg s-1 (steam flow rate)
residence times (s) reactor 0.048 0.066 0.038 0.09
recycling loop 63 164 320
mass fractions of the recovered dry gases 95.4 93.2 93.7 81.00
products calculated with pyrolysis liquids + aerosols 0 1.8 1.1 17.58
respect to the quantity solids separated 1.1 3.2 4.5 4.03
of dry wood pyrolyzed (%) total 96.5 98.2 99.3 102.61
composition of the dry gases (mol %) H2 24.99 20.10 18.41 21.70
CO 49.48 49.18 37.18 44.50
CO2 14.50 19.60 28.48 16.20
CH4 8.13 8.63 6.15 8.30
C2H4 2.20 2.18 5.74 4.00
C2H6 0.71 0.31 4.04
C2H2 5.30
heating values of the gases (kJ m-3 STP) 13 800-14 600 13 800 16 000 17 600
a All these experiments were performed with cyclone B.

Figure 2. Simplified biomass decomposition pathway.

steam probably has no influence on the overall reaction
and can be used as a simple carrier gas in a short
residence time reactor such as the cyclone (because of
the slow steam gasification kinetics).
(iv) The volume of the fan and of the pipes is obviously
considerably too large compared to the volume of the
cyclone reactor itself. But the good results obtained in
these extreme conditions are a good indication that a
smaller recycling loop would probably lead to similar
results of high fast gasification yields with still fewer
secondary reactions. Further experiments would need
to optimize the residence times in the loop and hence
its volume as well as the recycling flow rate.
(v) In any case, these results show the feasibility of
obtaining fast gasification yields close to 100% in a
cyclone reactor operating without carrier gas, in a
recycling-type process.
Modeling of the Cyclone Reactor and Kinetics
of the Vapor-Phase Cracking Reaction
1. Bibliographical Overview. Several hundred
papers have been published in the past decades in the
field of biomass thermochemical conversion. A great
number of them are related to the study of the funda-
mental aspects of the mechanisms of the thermal
degradation of the lignocellulosic feedstock. Very often,
the authors make the rough assumption of similar
kinetic pathways for cellulose and biomass itself. One
of the schemes most often recommended is represented
in Figure 2. This kinetic scheme is similar to the well-
known Broido-Shafizadeh mechanism. Actually, it has
been reformulated in order to agree with ref 16 and to
take into account the formation of an intermediate
liquid phase that was not suggested in the works of
Broido and Shafizadeh. The formation of intermediate
“active” species has been the source of many controver-
sies. However, it is now well established that short-
lifetime liquid species resulting from the partial depo-
lymerization of the feedstock are formed during the first
few milliseconds of the reaction of cellulose pyrolysis,15
a phenomenon which is also well known for lignin. It is
hence impossible to ignore the existence of such species
(even if their lifetimes are short) and to only consider a
mechanism relying on a simple elementary process
giving vapors from the macropolymer. Other sections
of this paper will show how important these liquid
products are to the overall behavior of the reactor.
According to the extent of heating of the reactor, these
liquid species can further react to give rise to char or to
vapors (flash conditions). These vapors can afterward
condense if they are rapidly cooled and give pyrolysis
oils. They can also crack in the gas phase into lighter
gases (H2, CO, ...) if they are maintained long enough
at high temperature. Despite the great quantity of
works published, only a limited number of papers
concern the kinetics of the secondary cracking reactions
of these pyrolysis vapors (step 4 in Figure 2). Table 5
gathers some of the main results reported by Hajaligol
et al.,17 Antal,18 Diebold,6 Liden et al.,19 Graham et al.,20
and Boroson et al.21 Notice that the second relation of
Graham et al.20 takes into account the existence of a
so-called “prompt gas” that would be produced (about
only 5%) during the primary pyrolysis steps as sug-
gested by Diebold,6 independently of the secondary
vapor-phase crackings.
898 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000

Figure 3. Arrhenius representation of the gas-phase cracking kinetic constant k4 as a function of the temperature. The experimental
values obtained for cyclones A and B are compared to the published values of Hajaligol et al.,17 Antal,18 Diebold,6 Liden et al.,19 Graham
et al.,20 and Boroson et al.21 The temperature T represents Ts and TW respectively in models 1 and 2.

Table 5. Main Values of the Kinetic Parameters of the to be formed only by the cracking (step 4) of the volatiles
Vapor-Phase Cracking Reaction (Step 4), Published in formed in step 3. The corresponding rate constant k4 is
the Literature
of a global nature, i.e., is not calculated for each
temperature elementary reaction giving rise to each species of the
author (reference) ko (s-1) E (kJ mol-1) domain (K)
gas mixture.
Hajaligol et al. (17) 2 × 108 133.4 573-1273 (ii) The kinetic scheme represented in Figure 2 is valid
Antal (18) 3.57 × 1011 204.3 773-1023
Diebold (6) 1.55 × 105 87.6 921-1095 for cellulose and biomass itself.
Liden et al. (19) 4.28 × 106 107.5 773-923 (iii) Because of the very low fractions of the solid
Graham et al. (20) 2.68 × 105 86.9 923-1173 residues separated at the bottom of the cyclones, only
1.1 × 106 a 100.8 a 923-1173
Boroson et al. (21) 9.53 × 104 93.3 773-1073
steps 1, 3, and 4 (Figure 2) are considered. Conse-
quently, the mass flow rates of the dry biomass feed-
a These values from ref 20 take into account the existence of a
stock, of the short lifetime intermediate species, and of
so-called prompt gas.
the gas + vapors mixture are the same under steady-
state conditions.
To more clearly compare these results, Figure 3
reproduces the values of ln k4 as a function of 1/T for (iv) Presuming values of the kinetic constant k4 and
the ranges of temperatures tested by the different using the often selected kinetic constant of step 3 (k3 )
authors. The activation energies vary inside a relatively 3.2 × 1014 exp(-198 000/RgT)),16 it can be easily shown
large domain, explaining the discrepancies at low tem- that in the domain of temperatures considered in the
peratures. It is, however, noticeable that the values of present work, k3 is always more than 1000 times greater
ln k4 are fairly similar for temperatures around ap- than k4. The vapor-cracking processes are hence not
proximately 1000 K, except for the values of Boroson et limited by the very fast vaporization of the liquid
al.21 that appear smaller. A more detailed discussion of intermediate species.
these results will be given later when they are compared (v) These liquid species can be located in two possible
with those of the present work. Considering the uncer- places before vaporization. They can remain on the
tainties, it is difficult to say which of the two results of surface of the particles at the place where they are
Graham et al.20 is valid and hence if it is necessary to formed (this fraction has hence a flow and thermal
take into account the “prompt gas”. behavior similar to those of the particles). They can also
2. Kinetic Constants Derived from the Experi- be partly deposited on the hot walls of the cyclone
ments with Cyclones A and B. The fast gasification
during the very efficient wall-particles frictions, where
yields X measured in the present work can be used to
they can react at temperatures close to TW.
derive new information concerning the kinetics of the
vapor-phase cracking reaction. Two modelings will be (vi) The vapors contain mainly C6H10O5 molecules
presented. They do not include the results obtained in (molar mass ) 162.0 × 10-3 kg), corresponding also to
the recycling process. The main assumptions are the levoglucosan that is now recognized as one of the main
following: components of the vapors produced in cellulose pyroly-
(i) The possible formation of a “prompt gas” is not sis. According to the mean gas composition reported in
taken into account, and hence the gases are assumed previous sections of this paper, it is assumed that step

4 can be empirically written as
C6H10O5 f 7.5 ∑i νiAi
νi being the mole fractions of the gas species Ai. So, step
4 occurs with a number of moles increase ∆ν close to
6.5. This very simple estimation is valid for cellulose.
Due to the presence of lignin and hemicellulose, the
situation would be theoretically different for biomass
itself. However, the average formulas for most of woods
are not considerably different from that of cellulose. In
addition, it is possible, as Diebold did,6 to select a molar
mass of the vapor species of 350 10-3 kg (about twice of
that for levoglucosan). It can be shown that such a
choice of M does not lead to important changes in the
results of the following modeling: eqs 10 and 11 as well
Figure 3 show that such a new value of M induces
changes in the values of k4 that are below the experi-
mental uncertainties.
2.1. First Model: The Cracking Occurs inside the
Whole Gas-Phase Volume of the Cyclone Reactor.
In a first approximation, it could be logically assumed
that the cracking reaction occurs during the crossing of
the vapors through the whole volume of the reactor. Let
us suppose that this volume behaves as a continuously
stirred tank reactor (CSTR1). This CSTR1 is fed by a
mixture of the vapors formed in step 3 (Figure 2) and
by the carrier gas (steam and rare gas). By definition
of a CSTR, its mixing temperature is uniform and equal
to its exit temperature Ts. It can be easily shown that
the space time of the reactor defined on any reference
basis can be written as22
X[1 + [∆ν/(1 + Ir)]X] Ts Vc
τc ) ) (2)
(1 - X)k4 Tref QVref
For example, for Tref ) 273 K, QVref would represent the
total STP volume flow rate of the entire gas phase:
QVref ) QVI + QVVa (3)
According to our assumptions, the mass flow rate of the
vapors is equal to the feeding mass flow rate QMB of the
dry biomass (step 2 in Figure 2 is neglected), and hence
22 414 × 10-6QMB
QVVa ) (4)
M
M being the molar mass of the vapors.
In eq 2, Ir represents the fraction of the molar fluxes
of the inert gas, mainly steam.
QV I
Ir ) (5)
QVVa
All the experiments reported in this paper have been
made in conditions of high dilution and hence Ir . 1.
Equation 2 can finally be used to derive the values of
k4 as a function of Ts:
X[1 + [∆ν/(1 + (QVI/QV Va))]X] Ts QVI + QVVa
k4 )
(1 - X) Tref Vc
(6)
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000 899
with ∆ν ) 6.5, Tref ) 273 K, and QVVa calculated from
eq 4.
These calculations can be made, for example, for the
two typical experiments described in Table 2. They lead
to
cyclone A: Ir ) 34.39
Ts ) 773 K
ln k4 ) 4.67
cyclone B: Ir ) 100.58
Ts ) 896 K
ln k4 ) 4.54
Figure 3 shows that these values are in complete
disagreement with all the others reported in the litera-
ture. For example, the values of k4 calculated with
cyclone A are about 600 and 1.7 × 104 times higher than
the values predicted by the kinetic laws of respectively
Liden et al.19 and Antal.18
This model hence seems inaccurate. However, it
clearly demonstrates one of the very interesting proper-
ties of the cyclone reactor. Because of the significant
temperature differences between the flowing gas and
the walls, the products formed around the reacting
particles rapidly mix in a much colder gas, where the
secondary reactions are immediately stopped. Such an
effect proves that the cyclone reactor (heated at its
walls) can also play the role of a quenching device. Such
a possibility is not always offered by other, more
conventional devices, where the gas and solid phases
have similar temperatures.
2.2. Second Model: The Cracking Occurs inside
a Thin Hot Layer Close to the Inner Walls of the
Cyclone Reactor. A detailed experimental and theo-
retical study of the elementary processes of the heating
of particles flowing through a cyclone heated at its walls
has been made by Lédé et al.12 The results obtained with
very different values of carrier gas and solid flow rates
as well as sizes and natures of the particules, show the
following:
(i) Thermal exchanges by convective processes be-
tween the particles and the carrier gas can be neglected.
(ii) Heating of the particles occurs mainly by conduc-
tion mechanisms through the gaseous film (supposed
at TW) separating the particle from the cyclone hot
surface, around the contact area (through which theo-
retically no heat exchange can occur because of the
infinitesimally small surface contact between the solids).
The volume of this film is close to πR3/3. Extensive
details representing this model can be found in ref 12.
(iii) However, for high throughputs of solids, the
model is more complicated. In that case, the elementary
flow of one particle is similar to a succession of local
bouncings resulting from particle-particle collisions.
The particles hence have periods of mean free paths
during which they are in contact with the hot walls, the
heat is exchanged, and the decomposition of the solid
occurs.
(iv) The solids move globally according to a plug flow.
The second model of vapor cracking is based on the
following specific main assumptions:
(i) Steps 3 and 4 (Figure 2) occur only inside a thin,
hot boundary layer located along the walls and supposed
to be at TW. No reaction is possible inside the bulk of
900 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000

the reactor, where the gas temperature may be some- Table 6. Experimental Parameters (Wall Temperature
times up to 300 K lower than TW (and hence the kinetics TW, Dry Wood Mass Flow Rate QMB, and Mean Particle
are much reduced). These important temperature dif- Radius R), as Well as Gasification Yields X Used in the
Calculation of the Kinetic Constant k4 of the
ferences have been, for example, measured and modeled Vapor-Phase Cracking Reactiona
in ref 11.
cyclone TW (K) X QMB (kg s-1) R (10-6 m) ln k4
(ii) It is assumed in a first approximation that this
thin, hot boundary layer is made of a great number of A 893 0.16 8× 10-5 150 1.76
small elementary stirred cells (CSTRi). These side-by- 1065 0.36 8 × 10-5 150 3.51
1106 0.42 8 × 10-5 150 3.91
side cells form a monolayer, covering the whole internal 1163 0.65 8 × 10-5 150 5.24
surface of the cyclone. Each one is fed by the vapors 1163 0.62 8 × 10-5 150 5.07
formed in the very fast step 3 (Figure 2). A mixture of 1225 0.66 8 × 10-5 150 5.35
uncracked vapors and of permanent gases leaves each 1278 0.83 8 × 10-5 150 6.50
cell and enters the much cooler bulk volume of the 1321 0.80 8 × 10-5 150 6.31
cyclone, where the reaction is immediately stopped 1327 0.93 8 × 10-5 150 7.67
B 1080 0.672 1.09 × 10-4 300 4.17
(quench) by mixing with the colder flowing inert carrier 1110 0.70 0.83 × 10-4 150 4.78
gas. It is supposed that the CSTRi cells are in parallel 1110 0.669 0.97 × 10-4 300 4.06
and independent of each other (no vapor and gas 1113 0.749 0.86 × 10-4 300 4.43
exchange between them) in such a way that the whole 1119 0.829 0.72 × 10-4 300 4.83
volume VW of the hot layer can globally be assumed to 1124 0.750 0.83 × 10-4 300 4.43
behave as a single CSTR (CSTR2), fed by a total flow 1160 0.711 0.98 × 10-4 300 4.36
1166 0.793 0.90 × 10-4 450 4.41
rate of vapors equal to the flow rate of dry biomass. 1180 0.938 0.69 × 10-4 450 5.67
(iii) It is difficult to choose a priori a value for the 1180 0.882 1.23 × 10-4 300 5.90
volume of each elementary cell and hence for the whole 1180 0.834 1.32 × 10-4 300 5.53
hot layer. We can suppose in a very first approximation 1190 0.870 0.89 × 10-4 300 5.46
that each cell can be represented as a small cylinder a The values of k are calculated according to the second model
4
having the same cross section as a particle (πR2) and relying on the assumption of a reaction occurring inside a thin,
the same thickness as the diameter of a particle (2R). hot gas layer close to the walls of the cyclone.
The resulting elementary volume (2πR3) is hence 6
times higher than the volume of the film (πR3/3) where Finally, the rate constant k4 can be obtained according
the heating by conduction of a particule occurs.12 Such to the equation
a value for this elementary volume takes roughly into
account the mole increase (6.5) resulting from reaction X(1 + ∆νX) TW QVVa
4. This theory supposes that the cracking reaction occurs k4 ) (11)
(1 - X) Tref VW
inside each cell, while the particle bounces outside of
it. With ∆ν ) 6.5, Tref ) 273 K, and Vw and QVVa
(iv) No carrier gas (steam, Ar, He) enters the elemen- calculated with the eqs 7 and 10, one obtains
tary cells.
According to these assumptions, the main new equa- X(1 + 6.5X) TWQMB
tions of this second model related to the whole CSTR2 k4 ) 2.53 × 10-4 (12)
(1 - X) RSc
are the following.
The total volume of the hot layer is The corresponding values have been calculated for the
experiments made with cyclones A (Sc ) 8.06 × 10-3
Vw ) 2RSc (7) m2; 2R ) 3 × 10-4 m) and B (Sc ) 16.9 × 10-3 m2; 2R
) 3 × 10-4, 6 × 10-4, and 9 × 10-4 m). The experimental
There is no dilution of the species inside the layer, data are reported in Table 6 and Figure 3. Despite the
and so very different sizes of the two cyclone reactors (a factor
close to 3 on the volumes ratios) and the extraordinary
wide range of the other experimental conditions, the
Ir ) 0 (8) results are very compatible with each other. The best
straight line (linear regression) leads to the following
The space time τw of the CSTR2, defined on any Arrhenius equation:
reference, can be written as

τW )
X(1 + ∆νX) TW
)
VW
(9)
k4 ) 5.9 × 107 exp - ( 123 480
Rg T ) (13)

(1 - X)k4 Tref QVref This equation is valid inside the experimental range of
temperatures 893-1327 K for cyclone A and 1080-1190
For example, for Tref ) 273 K, QVref would represent the K for cyclone B with a correlation coefficient of 0.93.
STP volume flow rate of the vapors, which is directly They are among the highest values reported in the
connected to the feeding flow rate QMB of the dry literature for the study of vapor cracking, as shown in
biomass: the Figure 3. It would be interesting to extend the study
to lower wall temperatures; for example, until about 740
K, the approximate temperature at which biomass
22 414 × 10-6QMB
QVref ) QVVa ) (10) decomposes under fast pyrolysis conditions. However,
M in that case, the residence time of the vapors inside the
thin, hot boundary layer (see model 2) would be so small
(This equation is, of course, the same as eq 4). that no noticeable cracking could be observed (the small

gasification yield of 16% measured with cyclone A at
893 K16 is proof of this). Such behavior resulting from
the specific properties of the cyclone reactor would give
new evidence that at low wall temperatures, the pri-
mary vapors have few chances to be cracked and hence
a high probability of being recovered after fast liberation
inside the cold circulating gas.
These kinetic parameters are in good agreement with
those reported in the literature around 1000 K, where
most of the reported results appear similar. The activa-
tion energy (123.48 kJ mol-1) can be favorably compared
to the values reported by most of the authors except
Antal,18 who reports a higher value (204.3 kJ mol-1).
Two main reasons can explain this difference:
(i) Antal interprets his results on the gas-phase
pyrolysis of cellulose (and kraft lignin)-derived volatile
matter on the basis of a global mechanism composed of
two competing reactions, while only one is considered
in the present work. In the case of cellulose, for example,
the first mechanism creates permanent gases by crack-
ing reactions of the volatile matter (activation energy,
204.3 kJ mol-1) and the second one creates refractory
condensable tar materials (activation energy, 63 kJ
mol-1). Consequently, Antal’s values given in Table 5
are not strictly comparable to those reported by the
other authors.
(ii) The vapors derived from cellulose seem to be more
reactive than those from wood. For example, in a review
paper, Antal23 gives a value close to 100 kJ mol-1 for
wood, which is about half his value for cellulose. This
effect can well explain the differences with the refer-
ences6,19,21 and the present paper reporting works made
with wood.
The preexponential factor (5.9 × 107 s-1) (eq 13) must
be considered only as a simple order of magnitude, this
value being directly connected to the choice of the
thickness of the thin, hot layer (k4 is proportional to R-1,
see eq 12).
Modeling of the experiments with the recycling pro-
cess would be more difficult. The cracking of the vapors
occurs, of course, inside the high-temperature boundary
layer close to the walls but also inside the colder recycled
loop because of the high residence times (Table 4 shows
that the residence times in the loop can be 103 higher
than those inside the cyclone itself). For giving an order
of magnitude, let us define the characteristic chemical
time of the cracking reaction (step 4) as 1/k4. Equation
12 leads to values of several tens of seconds similar to
the residence times in the loop, but much higher than
the residence times in the cyclone.
3. Conclusion. The vapor-phase cracking (step 4) of
the volatiles formed by the very fast step 3 probably
occurs inside a thin, hot gas layer supposed to be at TW
and close to the hot walls of the cyclone. The products
formed inside this zone are rapidly liberated inside the
colder volume of the reactor, where the reaction is
rapidly stopped.
The result is that, according to the wall (and hence
hot layer) temperature, the cyclone is able to produce
either high fractions of condensable vapors (low TW, low
conversion yields), as shown by the experiments made
at 893 K,7 or of gases (high TW, high conversion yields).
This flexibility is an additional and very interesting new
advantage of the cyclone reactor.
Discussions and Conclusions
(i) The fast pyrolysis of wood can be performed in a
cyclone reactor heated at its surface. The results have
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000 901
been obtained with two different sizes of cyclones, their
volume being in a ratio close to 3. Certainly, their sizes
are small, but they correspond to laboratory require-
ments and represent a good starting scale for showing
the feasibility of the process and deriving first laws of
operation. The measurements have been conducted
under very different experimental conditions, and the
agreement of the results is a good proof of the validity
of the conclusions.
(ii) The mass balances derived on the recovered gas,
liquid, and solid phases are close to 100%. The small
char fractions are lower than 3%.
(iii) Considering the overall small dimensions of the
cyclones, relatively high processing capacities are pos-
sible (up to about 0.5 kg h-1 for a 4 × 10-2 m diameter
reactor). These capacities are of the order of 9 × 10-3
kg s-1 per square meter of heated surface, in agreement
with values reported by other authors. Such an order
of magnitude will have to be taken into account in future
scaling up calculations.
(iv) The cyclone reactor is a low gas residence time
reactor where the fast liquefaction or the fast gasifica-
tion of biomass can be efficiently performed according
to the operating conditions. For example, fast gasifica-
tion yields X ranging from 16% to 93% can be obtained
by simply changing the wall temperature. Because of
the very low char fractions, the complement 1 - X
corresponds roughly to fast liquefaction yields.
(v) The gas contains high volume fractions of H2, CO,
CO2, and CH4 but also noticeable quantities of other
light hydrocarbons (C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, C3H6), the frac-
tions of which increase with the temperature.7
(vi) The heating value of the gases increases from
13 500 to 19 000 kJ m-3 (STP) as the fractions of
hydrocarbons increase (they represent up to 50% of the
heating values). These values are significantly higher
than those of the gases obtained in more usual air or
O2 slow gasification processes. Moreover, the productiv-
ity is much higher because of the rapidity of the
reaction.
(vii) The high flexibility of the cyclone reactor can be
used to advantage to perform the fast pyrolysis of
biomass with two possible objectives: fast gasification
or fast liquefaction.
The first objective is reached with high wall temper-
atures, while the second needs low wall temperatures.
It is, however, difficult to set a given temperature
boundary. Actually, eqs 9 and 10 show that the biomass
mass flow rate also influences the gasification yield X
and that we can expect increasing fractions of liquids
for high feedstock throughputs, independently of the
wall temperature. These properties rely also on the
quenching effect experienced by the products as soon
as they are liberated and mixed inside the flowing gas,
which is at a much lower temperature than the walls.
These two extreme properties (gas or liquid produc-
tion) make it possible to renew the first objectives of
biomass fast pyrolysis (gas production) and the current
ones (liquid production).
(viii) It is also possible to reach nearly 100% fast
gasification yields by recycling the products of the
reaction. Because of the long residence times in the
recycling loop, the vapors are almost entirely cracked,
and the resulting gases can be used as the carrier gas.
Even for residence times of several minutes in the loop,
no important change in the gas composition is observed.
902 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, No. 4, 2000
(ix) The modeling of the vapor-phase cracking shows
that the reaction cannot occur inside the main volume
of the cyclone because of the too low temperature
associated with the very short residence times of the
gases. It is likely to occur inside a thin, hot boundary
layer close to the hot inner surface of the cyclone.
(x) A very simple and original modeling of this small
reacting volume has been made in order to derive the
kinetic constant of the vapor-phase cracking. The results
obtained under very different conditions with cyclones
A and B are perfectly compatible with each other. The
corresponding Arrhenius equation is also in agreement
with other published results. The activation energy is
of the order of 123 kJ mol-1.
(xi) It had previously been shown that the cyclone
could be efficiently used as a reactor for performing the
decarbonation24 as well as the sublimation25 of solid
particles. The results of this present work evidence an
interesting new property of the cyclone reactor that can
be used as a quenching device. The primary reactions
occur near the hot walls, liberating gases and vapors
that are immediately quenched by mixing with the
carrier gas inside the main volume of the reactor.
(xii) The results obtained in the present paper, in the
case of biomass pyrolysis, give new evidence that the
cyclone reactor can be used on the small laboratory scale
for performing fundamental kinetic studies.
(xiii) The experiments and models reported in this
paper have been obtained with cyclones of small sizes
and, of course, are not expected to be sufficient for
rigorously predicting what would happen on a com-
mercial scale (bigger reactors, higher flow rates of
biomass, longer times of operation). However, for the
scaling up of such a reactor, several additional data have
been well established and already published.9-12 They
include the determination of the flow behavior of the
gas and solid phases, for which extrapolation rules have
been derived with cyclone diameters ranging from 2.8
× 10-2 to 40 × 10-2 m; particles sizes between 100 ×
10-6 and 3.2 × 10-2 m having densities from 720 to 8800
kg m-3; and several types of carrier gases (air, Ar, CO2,
H2, steam) flowing with inlet Reynolds numbers ranging
from 400 to 250 000. Heat- and mass-transfer laws have
also been obtained for both phases and for wall tem-
peratures between 293 and 1120 K.
However, one of the main questions concerns the
maximum possible throughput of the feedstock in the
case of biomass pyrolysis due to a clogging phenomenon,
resulting from the agglomeration of the reacting par-
ticles. The overall plug flow of the particles results, in
fact, from a succession of particle-particle collisions.10,12
The particles have, hence, periods of mean free paths
during which they are in contact with the hot walls
against which they slide. It can be assumed that it is
mainly during these periods of contacts that the heat
is exchanged with the walls and that the decomposition
of the solid occurs (see model 2). The variations of the
mean free path of the particles against the walls as well
as of the corresponding heat-transfer coefficients have
been reported in ref 12. A starting model for predicting
the conditions of clogging would involve comparison of
the values of the characteristic times of the mean free
path of the particles and the necessary time of vaporiza-
tion of the intermediate liquid species (step 3 in Figure
2). One can expect that the limit capacity of the reactor
would roughly correspond to the case where the first
time is much lower than the second one. Such an
approach would suppose that the particles do not stick
to the walls and actually slide against them. One can
expect that the intermediate liquid species, which have
relatively small viscosities, probably induce favorable
lubrication effects,16 resulting, in contrast, in an im-
provement of the sliding efficiencies and hence low
probabilities of sticking, mainly at high wall tempera-
tures.
(xiv) In conclusion, the cyclone reactor is an interest-
ing, and too little considered, fast pyrolysis and multi-
functional reactor. The solid particles behave as in a
plug flow (ensuring a good selectivity for the reactions)
with residence times that can be much higher than
those of the carrier gas.9,10 It is a relatively compact
device in which several steps are performed in a unique
operation and vessel: the heating of the reactants and
the chemical reaction, followed by the separation of the
gas and of the solids and the quenching of the primary
products. All these elementary processes occur in total
times that can be smaller than 1 s. Finally, this paper
gives new evidence that the cyclone can also be used
favorably on the laboratory scale for deriving funda-
mental kinetic studies.
Nomenclature
A ) cyclone with a diameter Dc of 2.8 × 10-2 m
B ) cyclone with a diameter Dc of 4 × 10-2 m
CSTR ) continuously stirred tank reactor
Dc ) diameter of a cyclone (m)
E ) activation energy (kJ mol-1)
Ir ) fraction of the molar flux of the inert gas
ko ) Arrhenius preexponential factor (s-1)
k1, k2, k3, k4 ) first-order kinetic constants for steps 1-4
(Arrhenius type law: k ) ko exp(-E/RgT)) (s-1)
M ) molecular weight (kg)
QMB ) mass flow rate of dry biomass (kg s-1)
QVI ) volume flow rate of the inert gas under reference
conditions (m3 s-1)
QVRef ) total volume flow rate of the gases under reference
conditions (m3 s-1)
QVVa ) volume flow rate of the vapors under reference
conditions (m3 s-1)
R ) radius of a (spherical) particle (m)
Reo ) Reynolds number (inlet conditions)
Rg ) gas constant (J mol-1 K-1)
Sc ) heated surface of a cyclone (m2)
T ) temperature (K)
To ) inlet temperature (K)
TS ) exit temperature of the reactor (K)
Tref ) reference temperature (K)
TW ) wall temperature of the cyclone (K)
VC ) volume of the cyclone (m3)
VW ) volume of the hot layer (m3)
X ) fast gasification yield
∆ν ) number of moles increase during the reaction of
cracking
νi ) mole fraction of gas species i
τC ) space time of the whole cyclone reactor (reference
conditions) assumed to behave as a CSTR(s)
τG ) approximation of the gas’s residence time (inlet
conditions) (s)
τS ) residence time of the solids in the cyclone (s)

τW ) space time of the reactor defined on the volume VW of
the hot boundary layer (s)
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Received for review August 18, 1999
Revised manuscript received December 15, 1999
Accepted December 21, 1999
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