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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Renewable Energy

Efficient biomass pyrolysis under sub-design solar input through SiC foam integration and process parameter optimization

  • Yang Liu
  • Ruming Pan
  • Renaud Ansart
  • Gérald Debenest
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Abstract

Solar thermochemical reactors often operate below their design power because solar irradiance varies. This study evaluates whether silicon carbide (SiC) foam can extend the effective operating window of a solar-driven packed-bed biomass pyrolysis reactor under sub-design input. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) framework coupled a one-dimensional shrinking-core particle model with a semi-detailed kinetic model (SDKM). The model was applied to a 5 kW prototype by varying the peak incident radiative flux densities (I) from 1.24 to 2.49 MW m−2 (40–80% of the design power), SiC foam porosity (ϕSiC), and nominal residence time (NRT). At ϕSiC = 0.9 and NRT = 15 s, essentially complete biomass pyrolysis was achieved at I = 1.55 MW m−2, corresponding to only 50% of the design power, and the oil fraction reached 45%. Above this threshold, additional input mainly intensified PLPS decomposition and oil cracking rather than biomass conversion. Direct comparison with a bed without foam showed that SiC foam increased the conversion rate from 29% to as high as 79%. At ϕSiC = 0.94, the axial temperature difference decreased from 1018 to 347 K, and the effective conversion rate reached 73%. Increasing NRT from 15 to 120 s increased oil-to-gas conversion by 150% with little change in bed temperature. These results quantify the extension of the reactor operating window enabled by SiC foam and clarify the distinct effects of radiative input and NRT on product distribution.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{liu2026efficient,
  title = {{Efficient biomass pyrolysis under sub-design solar input through SiC foam integration and process parameter optimization}},
  author = {Yang Liu and Ruming Pan and Renaud Ansart and Gérald Debenest},
  journal = {Renewable Energy},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.renene.2026.126508},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05804441v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Efficient biomass pyrolysis under sub-design solar input through SiC foam integration and process parameter optimization
AU  - Yang Liu
AU  - Ruming Pan
AU  - Renaud Ansart
AU  - Gérald Debenest
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
JO  - Renewable Energy
DO  - 10.1016/j.renene.2026.126508
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05804441v1
AB  - Solar thermochemical reactors often operate below their design power because solar irradiance varies. This study evaluates whether silicon carbide (SiC) foam can extend the effective operating window of a solar-driven packed-bed biomass pyrolysis reactor under sub-design input. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) framework coupled a one-dimensional shrinking-core particle model with a semi-detailed kinetic model (SDKM). The model was applied to a 5 kW prototype by varying the peak incident radiative flux densities (I) from 1.24 to 2.49 MW m−2 (40–80% of the design power), SiC foam porosity (ϕSiC), and nominal residence time (NRT). At ϕSiC = 0.9 and NRT = 15 s, essentially complete biomass pyrolysis was achieved at I = 1.55 MW m−2, corresponding to only 50% of the design power, and the oil fraction reached 45%. Above this threshold, additional input mainly intensified PLPS decomposition and oil cracking rather than biomass conversion. Direct comparison with a bed without foam showed that SiC foam increased the conversion rate from 29% to as high as 79%. At ϕSiC = 0.94, the axial temperature difference decreased from 1018 to 347 K, and the effective conversion rate reached 73%. Increasing NRT from 15 to 120 s increased oil-to-gas conversion by 150% with little change in bed temperature. These results quantify the extension of the reactor operating window enabled by SiC foam and clarify the distinct effects of radiative input and NRT on product distribution.
SN  - 0960-1481
SN  - 1879-0682
ER  -