Umpqua National Forest

Projects & Plans

Fast Pyrolysis & Woody Biomass Demonstration Information

Fast pyrolysis is a thermal process that rapidly heats woody biomass to a controlled temperature (500 degrees C) and then quickly cools the volatile products to yield:

• Bio-oil (60%)
• Bio-char (20%)
• Syngas (20%)

The syngas is recycled into the combustion chamber to keep the process going or it can be collected. The bio-oil and bio-char are collected and trucked offsite for later use.

Title II brings fast pyrolysis demonstration to Douglas County

• Two page handout on demonstration (2,161 KB PDF)
• Picasa Photo Album

Presentations and Posters used during the demonstrations

Biomass Energy and Biofuels from Oregon’s Forests Presentation

Prepared by Mike Cloughesy, Oregon Forest Resources Institute. Definition of woody biomass, OFRI study on biomass energy and biofuels from Oregon Forests, and potential solutions to how biomass can help forest health, boost economy, and produce energy. (2,788 KB PDF)

Energy from Wood Presentation

Prepared by The Oregon Wood Innovation Center. How we get energy from wood, chemical process of breaking down cellulose and hemi-cellulose, and description of fast pyrolysis. (408 KB PDF)

Biochar Amendments on Forest Soils Poster

Current Research -- Kristin M. McElligott and Mark Coleman, Department of Forest Resources, University of Idaho, and Debbie Page-Dumroese, Rocky Mountain Research Station. One-page poster listing field research objectives and lab & greenhouse research objectives. (152 KB PDF) *

Biochar as a Soil Amendment Poster

Kristin M. McElligott and Mark Coleman, Department of Forest Resources, University of Idaho, and Debbie Page-Dumroese, Rocky Mountain Research Station. One-page poster describing bio-char and soil as well as carbon sequestration potential of bio-char. (412 KB PDF) *

Financial Analysis of Mobile Fast Pyrolysis

Prepared by University of Montana and USDA Forest Service Rocy Mountain Research Station. Presentation includes an analysis of mobile pyrolysis and large scale, fixed location fast pyrolysis; economic analysis of these systems; emissions, energy balance and carbon flux; and an analysis of forest operations used to handle, process and deliver forest biomass feedstocks. (4,665 KB PDF)

* List of 11 references for the above Biochar Posters -- provided by Kristin M. McElligott, kmcelligott at uidaho.edu

1. Bornermann, L., Kookana, R. S. and Welp,G. (2007) "Differential sorption behavior of aromatic hydrocarbons on charcoals prepared at different temperatures from grass and wood", Chemosphere, vol 67, pp1033–1042
2. Cheng, C. H., Lehmann J. and Engelhard, M. H. (2008) "Natural oxidation of black carbon in soils: Changes in molecular form and surface charge along a climosequence", Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol 72, pp1598–1610
3. Cornelissen,G., Elmquist, M., Groth, I. and Gustafsson,O. (2004) "Effect of sorbate planarity on environmental black carbon sorption", Environmental Science and Technology, vol 38, pp3574–3580
4. Glaser, B., Lehmann, J. and Zech,W. (2002) "Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal – a review", Biology and Fertility of soils, vol 35, pp219-230
5. Gundale, M.J., and DeLuca,T.H. (2006) "Temperature and substrate influence the chemical properties of charcoal in the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir ecosystem", Forest Ecology and Management, vol 231, pp86–93
6. Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. and Rondon, M. (2006) "Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems – a review", Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol 11, pp403–427
7. Lehmann, J., da Silva Jr., J. P., Steiner, C., Nehls, T., Zech,W. and Glaser, B. (2003) "Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological Anthrosol and a Ferrasol of the Central Amazon basin: Fertilizer, manure, and charcoal amendments", Plant and Soil, vol 249, pp343–357
8. Neves et al, 2003 Neves EG, Petersen JB, Bartone RN, Silva CA da, 2003, Historical and sociocultural origins of Amazonian Dark Earths. In: Lehmann J, Kern DC, Glaser B, Woods WI (Eds.), Amazonian Dark Earths: Origin, properties, management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands: 29-50
9. Pietikäinen, J., Kiikkila,O. and Fritze, H. (2000) "Charcoal as a habitat for microbes and its effect on the microbial community of the underlying humus", Oikos, vol 89, pp231–242
10. Pessenda, L.C.R., Boulet, R., Aravena, R., Rosolen, V., Gouveia, S.E.M., Ribeiro, A.S. and Lamotte, M. (2001) "Origin and dynamics of soil organic matter and vegetation changes during the Holocene in forest-savanna transition zone, Brazilian Amazon region", Holocene, vol 11, pp250-254
11. Stevenson, F.J., and Cole, M.A. (1999) Cycles of the Soil, second edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York, NY