ABSTRACT
The thermal processing of biomass has been practised for centuries. Wood has been converted into charcoal which has a higher calorific value per unit weight, gives little or no smoke as it burns, has an easily controlled combustion and can give higher temperatures than wood. In more recent times coal has been pyrolysed on a large scale to give coke and town gas, both of which have superior characteristics as fuels. Much work has been devoted over the years to
ways of converting biomass to fuels efficiently and various routes have been investigated.
