Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a chemical reaction where heat breaks down organic compounds (chemicals that contain carbon). Pyrolysis happens under pressure and if the temperature is above 430 °C (800 °F). Pyrolysis is different from combustion because it does not use oxygen. Pyrolysis is generally done in an inert atmosphere. It is a type of thermal decomposition.

Pyrolysis converts the ingredients, called feedstock, into a mixture of gases (pyrolysis gas), liquids (tar or pyrolysis oil), and leftover solids (char).

Pyrolysis Media

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  Burning pieces of wood, showing various stages of pyrolysis, followed by oxidative combustion

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  日本の楢などの黒炭

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  Destructive distillation of resinous woods (like pine or cedar), where wood is heated in the absence of air, breaks it down into useful chemical components.

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  Processes in the thermal degradation of organic matter at atmospheric pressure

• Charcoal briquettes, often made from compressed sawdust or similar, in use

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  A blacksmith's forge, with a blower forcing air through a bed of fuel to raise the temperature of the fire. On the periphery, coal is pyrolyzed, absorbing heat; the coke at the center is almost pure carbon, and releases a lot of heat when the carbon oxidizes.

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  Typical organic products obtained by pyrolysis of coal (X = CH, N)

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  Illustrating inputs and outputs of methane pyrolysis, an efficient one-step process to produce hydrogen and no greenhouse gas

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  Illustration of the metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy process, which entails pyrolysis of volatiles