Efficient use of biomass in regenerative furnace firing

A method of carrying out combustion in a furnace, comprising

• (A) combusting fuel in a furnace to produce gaseous combustion products, and
• (B) alternately
• (1) passing gaseous combustion products from the furnace into and through a cooled first TCR (thermochemical regenerator) to heat the first TCR and cool said gaseous combustion products, pyrolyzing solid or liquid organic fuel with heat that is provided from gaseous combustion products from the furnace to form pyrolysis gas that contains CO, H2O, hydrocarbons, and oxygenated hydrocarbons, passing a gaseous reformable mixture comprising said pyrolysis gas into a heated second TCR and, in the second TCR, reacting the reformable mixture in an endothermic reaction to form syngas comprising hydrogen and CO and cool the second TCR, and passing said syngas from the second TCR into the furnace and combusting it with gaseous oxidant in the furnace, and
• (2) passing gaseous combustion products from the furnace into and through the cooled second TCR to heat the second TCR and cool said gaseous combustion products, pyrolyzing solid or liquid organic fuel such as biomass with heat that is provided from gaseous combustion products from the furnace to form pyrolysis gas that contains CO, H2O, hydrocarbons, and oxygenated hydrocarbons, passing a gaseous reformable mixture comprising said pyrolysis gas into the heated first TCR and, in the first TCR, reacting the reformable mixture in an endothermic reaction to form syngas comprising hydrogen and CO and cool the first TCR, and passing said syngas from the first TCR into the furnace and combusting it with gaseous oxidant in the furnace.