Editing Pyrolysis (section)

==Applications==
Pyrolysis is most commonly used in the treatment of [[organic compound|organic]] materials. It is one of the processes involved in the [[charring]] of wood<ref name=inno>{{cite web |url=http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/innofirewood/stateoftheart/database/burning/burning.html |title=Burning of wood |work=InnoFireWood's website |access-date=2010-02-06 |archive-date=2010-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209095142/http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/innofirewood/stateoftheart/database/burning/burning.html  }}</ref> or pyrolysis of biomass. In general, pyrolysis of organic substances produces volatile products and leaves [[Char (chemistry)|char]], a carbon-rich solid residue. Extreme pyrolysis, which leaves mostly [[carbon]] as the residue, is called [[carbonization]]. Pyrolysis is considered one of the steps in the processes of gasification or combustion.<ref name="Zhou-2013">{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Hui |last2=Long |first2=YanQiu |last3=Meng |first3=AiHong |last4=Li |first4=QingHai |last5=Zhang |first5=YanGuo |title=The pyrolysis simulation of five biomass species by hemi-cellulose, cellulose and lignin based on thermogravimetric curves |journal=Thermochimica Acta |date=August 2013 |volume=566 |pages=36–43 |doi=10.1016/j.tca.2013.04.040 |bibcode=2013TcAc..566...36Z }}</ref><ref name="Zhou-2017">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-981-10-3827-3 |title=Combustible Solid Waste Thermochemical Conversion |series=Springer Theses |date=2017 |isbn=978-981-10-3826-6 }}{{pn|date=March 2025}}</ref> Laypeople often confuse pyrolysis gas with [[syngas]].{{Why|date=December 2024}}  Pyrolysis gas has a high percentage of heavy tar fractions, which condense at relatively high temperatures, preventing its direct use in gas burners and internal combustion engines, unlike syngas. 

The process is used heavily in the [[chemical industry]], for example, to produce [[ethylene]], many forms of [[carbon]], and other chemicals from petroleum, coal, and even wood, or to produce [[coke (fuel)|coke]] from [[coal]]. It is used also in the conversion of [[natural gas]] (primarily [[methane]]) into  [[hydrogen]] gas and solid [[carbon]] char, recently introduced on an industrial scale.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last1=BASF |title=BASF researchers working on fundamentally new, low-carbon production processes, Methane Pyrolysis |url=https://www.basf.com/us/en/who-we-are/sustainability/we-produce-safely-and-efficiently/energy-and-climate-protection/carbon-management/interview-methane-pyrolysis.html |website=United States Sustainability |publisher=BASF |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019120013/https://www.basf.com/us/en/who-we-are/sustainability/we-produce-safely-and-efficiently/energy-and-climate-protection/carbon-management/interview-methane-pyrolysis.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Aspirational applications of pyrolysis would convert [[biomass]] into [[syngas]] and [[biochar]], waste plastics back into usable oil, or waste into safely disposable substances.