Production of Biofuels and Chemicals with Pyrolysis

This book presents a collection of studies on state-of-art techniques for converting biomass to chemical products by means of pyrolysis, which are widely applicable to the valorization of biomass. In addition to discussing the fundamentals and mechanisms for producing bio-oils, chemicals, gases and biochar using pyrolysis, it outlines key reaction parameters and reactor configurations for various types of biomass. Written by leading experts and providing a broad range of perspectives on cutting-edge applications, the book is a comprehensive reference guide for academic researchers and industrial engineers in the fields of natural renewable materials, biorefinery of lignocellulose, biofuels, and environmental engineering, and a valuable resource for university students in the fields of chemical engineering, material science and environmental engineering.

Zhen Fang is a Professor and Leader of the Biomass Group at Nanjing Agricultural University. He is the inventor of the “fast hydrolysis” process, and was listed in the “Most Cited Chinese Researchers” in energy for 2014-2018 (Elsevier-Scopus). Professor Fang specializes in thermal/biochemical conversion of biomass, nanocatalyst synthesis and their applications, pretreatment of biomass for biorefineries, and supercritical fluid processes. He holds Ph.D.s from China Agricultural University and McGill University. Professor Fang is an associate editor of Biotechnology for Biofuels and the Journal of Supercritical Fluids. He has more than 20 years of research experience in the field of renewable energy and green technologies at top universities and institutes around the globe, including 1 year in Spain (University of Zaragoza), 3 years in Japan (Biomass Technology Research Center, AIST; Tohoku University), and more than 8 years in Canada (McGill). He has worked for 7 years as engineer in energy, bioresource utilization and engine design in industry before moving to academia.

Richard L. Smith, Jr. is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Research Center of Supercritical Fluid Technology, Tohoku University, Japan. He has a strong background in physical properties and separations and holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA). His research focuses on developing green chemical processes, especially those that use water and carbon dioxide as the solvents in their supercritical state. He is an expert on physical property measurements and separation techniques with ionic liquids, and has published more than 270 scientific papers, patents and reports in the field of chemical engineering. Professor Smith is the Asia regional editor for the Journal of Supercritical Fluids and has served on the editorial boards of major international journals.

Lujiang Xu is a Lecturer in the Biomass Group at Nanjing Agricultural University, College of Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Renewable and Clean Energy from the Department of Chemistry of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and a B.S. in Light Chemical Engineering from Nanjing Forestry University. His research focuses on the selective thermo-chemical conversion of biomass and derived compounds into value-added chemicals and liquid fuels.