Distillation, destructive theory

The conversion of biomass materials to high octane gasoline has been actively pursued for many years. Historically, methanol was made in very low yields by the destructive distillation of hardwoods. More recently, the manufacture of methanol has been by the reaction of synthesis gas over catalysts at high pressures. In theory, any carbon source can be used for this catalytic generation of methanol, but in practice, biomass has not been advantageous relative to coal or natural gas. Other approaches to making liquid fuel from biomass have involved the fermentation of biomass to ethanol in a rather slow process. The conversion of biomass to alcohols is technically feasible, but the utilization of the alcohols as transportation fuels will require modifications to the... 

The fixed carbon (FC) represents the mass percentage of free carbon contained in the coal or coke, as received, excluding the carbon contained in volatile matter (hydrocarbon). In theory, it corresponds to the solid residue other than ash obtained after a destructive distillation performed under inert atmosphere. In practice, it is a value calculated, according to standard ASTM D3172, by subtraction of the mass of the volatile matter, ash content and moisture, with the result being expressed as a percentage of the total mass. 

The first account of the destructive distillation of coal was published in 1726. Large-scale continuous stills with fractionating towers similar to modern industrial stills were devised for the distillation of alcoholic beverages in the first half of the nineteenth century and later adapted to coal and oil refining. Laboratory distillation similarly advanced with the introduction of the Liebig condenser around 1850. The modern theory of distillation was developed by Ernest Sorel and reduced to engineering terms in his Distillation et rectification industrielles (1899). 

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