During high temperature fast pyrolysis (>500 �C), it has been well established that cellulose forms a reactive liquid intermediate.1, 2 This intermediate liquid cellulose (ILC) has the potential to control the primary reaction chemistry,3 the heat/mass transport,4 and aerosol generation.2 By understanding the fluid and heat transfer properties of this melt, we begin to understand how to tune surfaces and pyrolysis conditions to obtain optimal heat transfer, residence times and product yields which will become critical in the push to multi-scale modeling and scale-up. For the first time, fluid properties of ILC are predicted and confirmed with first principle computational fluid mechanics. The process of ILC reaction and evaporations is directly visualized using high speed photography, giving insight into transport pathways including liquid formation, bubble nucleation, evaporation, and aerosol generation. Several surfaces are examined, leading to the tuneability of these pathways. This work outlines the key operating regimes for cellulose pyrolysis, and provides insight into intelligent design for future catalysts and pyrolysis reactors. 1. Dauenhauer, P. J.; Colby, J. L.; Balonek, C. M.; Suszynski, W. J.; Schmidt, L. D., Reactive boiling of cellulose for integrated catalysis through an intermediate liquid. Green Chemistry 2009,  11, (10), 1555.2. Teixeira, A. R.; Mooney, K. G.; Kruger, J. S.; Williams, C. L.; Suszynski, W. J.; Schmidt, L. D.; Schmidt, D. P.; Dauenhauer, P. J., Aerosol generation by reactive boiling ejection of molten cellulose. Energy & Environmental Science 2011,  4, (10), 4306-4321.3. Mettler, M. S.; Paulsen, A. D.; Vlachos, D. G.; Dauenhauer, P. J., Pyrolytic conversion of cellulose to fuels: levoglucosan deoxygenation via elimination and cyclization within molten biomass. Energy & Environmental Science 2012,  5, (7), 7864-7868.4. Paulsen, A. D.; Mettler, M. S.; Dauenhauer, P. J., The Role of Sample Dimension and Temperature in Cellulose Pyrolysis. Energy & Fuels 2013,  27, (4), 2126-2134.

Intermediate liquid cellulose: Pathways, properties, and applications

247th National Meeting (2014)

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