ABSTRACT
Biomass can be converted into acombination of heat, power, and avariety of fuels via thermalconversion processes. Heat and power are the primary products from direct biomass combustion, but they are often coproducts in other thermal processes. Thermal processes can convert biomass into solid (charcoal, torreŽed biomass), gas (biogas, synthetic gas), and liquid (ethanol, biodiesel, gasoline) products. Modern bioreŽneries convert biomass into a combination of these energy products and chemicals. The contents of this section can be grouped into two main topics: (1) an overview of the energy efŽciency of biomass conversion systems and (2) descriptions of common industrial biomass conversion technologies.
Biomass conversion processes involve a large number of complex thermodynamic phenomena occurring through multiple system units or steps. Each step may involve mass or heat transfer and chemical reactions. The overall system’s efŽciency will depend on its ability to recover heat and/or maximize the output of desired products.
