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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass Residues in a Twin-screw Mixing Reactor
Published on: September 9, 2016
A comparative investigation of fast pyrolysis with enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentable sugars production from
Li-Qun Jiang1, An-Qing Zheng1, Jun-Guang Meng1
1Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New and Renewable Energy Research and Development, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Abstract:
In this study, ball milling and ionic liquid pretreatments were utilized to alter cellulose structure prior to fast pyrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. The variations in the products distribution of cellulose fast pyrolysis, and their dependence on the structure of cellulose, and the temperature of fast pyrolysis were illustrated. Fast pyrolysis of pretreated cellulose yielded more levoglucosan than crystalline cellulose (14.7%) at 300 °C. Nevertheless, the levoglucosan achieved higher yield (64.3%) from crystalline cellulose at 400 °C. At last, a comparison between fast pyrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis for cellulose saccharifaction was made. Fast pyrolysis was a promising alternative to liberate levoglucosan from cellulose. Further investigation and development were required to maximize the levoglucosan production.
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