OPERATION AND EVALUATION OF A NOVEL PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF ENERGY FROM WOOD.

Operating experience on a wood pyrolysis process is presented. The objective of the project is to evaluate commercial potential of a technically feasible nonpolluting process that produces high quality lump charcoal and fuel gas from wood, with a view to utilize the energy locked in the enormous wood waste created by the forest-related industries. A wood pyrolysis reactor system has been designed and constructed which uses round and slab wood. Experiments were conducted to characterize the process. The charcoal yield and wood pyrolysis gas energy resulting from the process were measured. Two viable possibilities are discussed for the utilization of energy from in-situ combustion of the wood gas in order to make the process commercially feasible.