Ammonia formation rates in biomass pyrolysis

\u3cp\u3eFor the development and design of advanced biomass conversion equipment, accurate experimental data of fundamental processes are highly important. To contribute to a better description of the chemical and physical processes occurring in biomass pyrolysis, the results of biomass pyrolysis experiments, in which biomass is heated very fast on a metal grid, are presented. Specific focus is on the product evolution rate of NH\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e, an important precursor for NO\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3e formation. Very little ammonia was produced from fresh wood. However, it was substantial for other fuels. Urea and melamine components released nitrogen in the form of NH\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e, HCN, and HNCO. The production rates of these components were expressed in the form of first order kinetics. These kinetic data are vital for an accurate description of NO\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3e formation in biomass conversion equipment. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2006 AIChE Annual Meeting (San Francisco, CA 11/12-17/2006).\u3c/p\u3