Study on Performance Improvement of Biomass Pyrolysis System Driven by Concentrated Solar Energy

To address the challenges of short energy storage duration and low thermal capture and conversion efficiency in solar thermal utilization, this paper proposes a four-quadrant adjustable-focus concentrating solar furnace-biomass pyrolysis coupling system. This system adopts energy concentrated enhancement and spatial distribution control of solar flux as its core technical approach. By optimizing the energy capture and conversion chain and exploring the synergistic mechanisms between the two pathways, it achieves improved energy utilization efficiency. First, using coconut waste pellets as the study object, the reliability of the constructed solar thermal pyrolysis numerical model was verified through comparative analysis of experimental testing and simulation calculations. Second, by leveraging the solar furnace’s control capabilities, a quantitative relationship was established between the spatial characteristics of solar flux distribution and the distribution of pyrolysis products, by adjusting the non-uniformity factor of the surface energy flux density distribution on the biomass pellets. This further enabled the construction of response surface models linking control parameters (pyrolysis time, non-uniformity factor) to product yields. The results indicate the existence of optimal control boundaries that enhance system performance: the effective energy input ratio of the solar furnace increased by 23% to 40%, pyrolysis time decreased by 48%, and the yields of gas and liquid products increased by 16% and 6% respectively.