Development of biorefinery concepts based on slow pyrolysis

Slow pyrolysis of hardwood was studied within the "BioRefine" Programme of Tekes during the years 2008 - 2013. The aims were to support and develop slow pyrolysis business operations in Finland and to develop new decentralized biorefineries and comprehensive concepts. Test runs were performed with different commercial carbonization retorts to study the quality and recovery of liquid and gaseous by-products. A slow pyrolysis testing facility was designed and built at VTT and test runs were carried out for birch wood at different carbonization temperatures to produce different biochars for further tests. Within the EC 7th FP project "SECTOR" torrefaction test runs were carried out with the test rig for birch, spruce and bamboo. The aim was to study the quality and utilization of condensables. Economic assessments were performed for biorefinery concepts based on slow pyrolysis, and torrefaction cases including the recovery of chemicals