PYROLYSIS IS NOT INCINERATION 

Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of waste in an oxygen-free environment or in an environment with an oxygen content too low for combustion or gasification to occur. Pyrolysis liquefaction is a non-combustion heat treatment that chemically decomposes waste material by applying direct or indirect heat to the waste material in an oxygen-free environment. 

Pyrolysis is an endothermic reaction, unlike gasification and combustion, which are typically exothermic reactions. It requires an input of energy that is usually applied indirectly, through the walls of the reactor in which the waste material is placed for treatment. 

Pyrolysis typically occurs under pressure and at operating temperatures above 430 °C (800 °F). The process generally produces char, oil, and syngas, with the ratios of each varying depending on the feedstock and the specific pyrolysis conditions (temperature, residence time, heating rate, pressure, and degree of mixing) employed.

There are several different kinds of liquefaction processes, all of which differ significantly in terms of residence time (for the waste material), heating rate, temperature, and by-products. These processes range from carbonization, which can take up to 24 hours and produce coal at low temperatures, to flash pyrolysis, which occurs in less than a second and produces syngas at extremely high temperatures. A summary of the process conditions and by-products of the various pyrolysis processes is presented in the table below.

Klean Industries offers several types of pyrolysis liquefaction systems, including the rotary kiln, rotary hearth unit, and fluidized bed. Some systems provide direct heat, while others provide indirect heat, and both continuous feed and batch feed variations are available. Both the pyrolysis and the gasification processes turn waste into energy-rich fuels by heating the waste under controlled conditions. As opposed to incineration, which fully converts the input waste into energy and ash, these processes are designed to limit the conversion process so that the products of the waste input can be controlled, such that the waste material is transformed into valuable by-products that can be directly reused in a variety of industries or processed further for more specific industrial applications.