Editing Pyrolysis (section)

== History ==
[[File:JapaneseOakCharcoal KuroSumi.jpg|thumb|Oak charcoal]]
Pyrolysis has been used for turning wood into [[charcoal]] since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used the liquid fraction obtained from the pyrolysis of cedar wood, in their [[embalming]] process.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koller |first1=Johann |last2=Baumer |first2=Ursula |last3=Kaup |first3=Yoka |last4=Schmid |first4=Mirjam |last5=Weser |first5=Ulrich |date=October 2003 |title=Analysis of a pharaonic embalming tar |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=425 |issue=6960 |pages=784 |doi=10.1038/425784a |doi-access=free |pmid=14574400 }}</ref>

The dry distillation of wood remained the major source of [[methanol]] into the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2005 |title=Methanol |encyclopedia=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |doi=10.1002/14356007 |isbn=978-3-527-30673-2 |author2=G. Grossmann |author3=D. B. Kersebohm |author4=G. Weiss |author5=Claus Witte |author1=E. Fiedler}}</ref>
Pyrolysis was instrumental in the discovery of many chemical substances, such as [[phosphorus]] from [[Microcosmic salt|ammonium sodium hydrogen phosphate]] {{chem2|NH4NaHPO4}} in concentrated [[urine]], [[oxygen]] from [[mercuric oxide]], and various [[nitrate]]s.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}