Pressurized steam pyrolysis of grape residues for production of valuable liquid hydrocarbons

The article reports on an experimental research aimed at investigating the pressurized pyrolysis of a residual biomass, namely grape residues. The focus was on the formation of solid and liquid phases, both being valuable in further processes for energy generation or chemical synthesis. The research puts forward previous studies with other biomass feedstock, confirming the suitability of such option for converting residual and seasonal biomass residues into more standard and improved by-products. The yield in liquid fraction, upon extraction in solvent, ranged between 0.2 and 0.3 on mass basis. The operating conditions of pyrolysis and extraction steps exerted strong influence on the process performance, in particular longer extraction time and nonpolar solvent improved the liquid yield.