Pyrolytic sources of hydrocarbons from biomass

Abstract This paper reports progress of the Renewable Resources Research Laboratory on the conversion of biomass to olefins. Research on the depolymerization of cellulose supports the initiation/competitive reaction scheme first proposed independently by Arsenau and Broido, but indicates rate laws characterized by somewhat higher apparent activation energies than those reported by Bradbury et al. Research on the decomposition of the model compound glycerol in supercritical water evidences two major pathways. At lower temperatures, a heterolytic acid catalyzed, carbonium ion mechanism results in the formation of acrolein by the elimination of water from glycerol. At higher temperatures, homolytic cleavage of CC bonds results in the preferential formation of acetaldehyde.