Thermochemical conversion technologies

As greenhouse emission evolves as a critical global issue, the demand for sustainable fuel production rises. Because of their high carbon content, biomass has shown potential for valuable chemicals, hydrogen, bio-oil, and biochar production. These products can be obtained through thermochemical conversions of biomass, technologies that continue to develop toward achieving net-zero emission goals. Thermochemical conversion technologies refer to combustion, pyrolysis, torrefaction, and gasification. Each of these processes is conducted under different operational conditions and aims to obtain various products, with gasification operating at the highest temperatures up to 1200 °C. The main goal of recent research is to lower the values of process parameters so that energy consumption can be reduced. This is very important, considering that combustion, for example, produces 97% of available bioenergy but raises significant environmental concerns due to the energy demand that must be dealt with. Other common issues associated with thermochemical conversion processes include tar formation and product composition. Extensive research on catalysts, suitable alloys, reactors, and parameters optimization has been conducted to help overcome these problems. However, a life cycle assessment of conversion systems is not always considered while investigating overall system qualities. This chapter aims to provide comprehensive insight into each thermochemical conversion technology while comparing their efficiencies for different purposes and listing new advances for overcoming common process drawbacks. This presented overview provides tools for future research that aims for biomass conversion with minimal environmental impact.