Soft Matter and Complex Systems Seminar

Biomass heated to high temperatures in absence of oxygen undergoes a serie of chemical processes, including evaporation and pyrolysis. As a result complex organic molecules (like cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) are transformed to simpler molecules forming flamable gases, liquid hydrocarbons and charcoal. As my master thesis I'm conducting computer simulations of the pyrolysis process for thermally thick wood particles in three experimental gasification reactors. The approach is based on finite volume method (FVM) combining chemical, thermodynamical and fluid dynamics models. The results can be compared to the experimental data, including temperature and mass loss time series, cross sections of wood particles and results of Particle Image Velocitymetry. During the seminar I'm going to present the topic, mathematical models and numerical approach as well as the most promising results obtained so far.