Pathways and Mechanisms of Fast Pyrolysis: Impact on Catalyst Research

Pyrolysis, the thermal decomposition of carbonaceous matter occurring in the absence of air or oxygen, applied to biomass has been a study subject for more than 50 years. However, there is still a lack of consensus on the way it happens at the molecular level and even on the sequence of physical events and chemical reactions that take place. Although it was claimed early that the inorganic materials originally present in biomass played a catalytic role, the presence of a real catalyst during pyrolysis is of recent origin. This chapter reviews the published literature in this and related areas trying to follow a line of reasoning: their impact on catalytic research. The contributions from studies of biomass composition and components and those from bio-oil molecular characterization studies, as well as directed mechanistic studies and contributions from kinetics and other physical aspects are considered.