Pyrolysis gases burners: Sustainability for integrated production of charcoal, heat and electricity

Brazil is the largest producer of charcoal, specifically for obtaining pig iron, basic raw material for the production of steel. Charcoal production is an economically important activity for Brazil, but there are challenges that impede its sustainable production throughout the length of the production chain. A major bottleneck in the charcoal chain is relative to higher emissions of pollutants and gases causing the greenhouse effect. These emissions can, moreover, be mitigated by incineration of the gases, thus reducing emissions into carbon dioxide and water. Incineration of gases opens new business opportunities, because the energy generated during the incineration process can be transformed into electricity, generating more revenue for producers, and can also be used in the drying of the wood to be carbonized, reducing the production cycle time, increasing production capacity and hence producers’ income. However, to date, these technologies failed to achieve the entire production chain, consistently and comprehensively, mainly due to technical barriers to be overcome, requiring researches that validate and improve these systems. Therefore, the general goal was to identify the key critical factors in the Brazilian production chain of charcoal and to investigate major issues related to the combustion of the gases generated during the carbonization process. The charcoal chain study was performed by SWOT analysis and the comprehensive literature review allowed addressing the challenges of burning the emission from charcoal kilns and the status of gas burner technologies. Policies are required to motivate the use of technologies for reducing the emission from charcoal production. Investment in research in partnership to the charcoal companies will ensure the improvement of the gas burning technologies. Also, credit lines to farmers would encourage the implementation of these technologies.