Renewable fuels and chemicals by thermal processing of biomass

Bio-energy is now accepted as having the potential to provide the major part of the projected renewable energy provisions of the future. There are three main routes to providing these bio-fuels-biological conversion, physical conversion and thermal conversion-all of which employ a range of chemical reactors configurations and designs. This review concentrates on thermal conversion processes and particularly the reactors that have been developed to provide the necessary conditions to optimise performance. A number of primary and secondary products can be derived as gas, liquid and solid fuels and electricity as well as a considerable number of chemicals. The basic conversion processes are summarised with their products and the main technical and non-technical barriers to implementation are identified. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.