Joint venture company Pyrocell has started the production of pyrolysis oil for biofuels at its plant in Sweden, the company announced on 23 September.
Founded in 2018, Pyrocell is jointly owned by wood product firm Setra and Swedish oil company Preem and produces bio-oil from a forestry by-product.
Pyrocell’s plant at Setra Kastet sawmill in Gävle on Sweden’s Baltic coast converts sawdust, a by-product from Setra's industrial process, into non-fossil pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil is then further processed to make renewable diesel and petrol at Preem’s refinery in Lysekil.
The plant would produce around 25,000 tonnes/year of non-fossil pyrolysis oil, the company said.
Pyrolysis is a process which involves the rapid heating of a substance to a high temperature to vaporise the solid material and condense it into a liquid. This process turns forestry waste products, such as branches, roots and sawdust, into oil, which can then be refined into renewable petrol and diesel.
