15min:

ANGAYLE VASILIOU, G. BARNEY ELLISON, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215; MARK R. NIMLOS, Center for Renewable Chemical, Technologies & Materials, NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401; JOHN W. DAILY, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0427.

Both furan (C₄H₄O) and furfural (C₄H₃O-CHO) are important products in biomass pyrolysis. We have used a resistively-heated SiC tubular reactor with a 30 microseconds residence time to study the thermal cracking of furan. The decomposition products are identified by two independent techniques: 118.2 nm VUV photoionization mass spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. We observe three different thermal dissociation channels leading to: a) CH₃CCH + CO b) HCCH + CH₂CO c) HCCCH₂.