Method of producing hodge carbonyls and oligomeric lignin

An improved fast pyrolysis method of the type used to decompose biomass into a non-bio-oil product, said fast pyrolysis method characterized by the steps of i) combining the biomass, a carrier gas, and a particulate solid source of heat in a pyrolysis chamber, ii) allowing the biomass to decompose during an apparent vapor residence time, and ii) collecting a product, wherein the improvement comprises the steps of:

• Step (a) directing superheated steam into the pyrolysis chamber;
• Step (b) applying to the pyrolysis chamber sufficient heat from an external source to raise the temperature in the chamber to at least about 430° C.;
• Step (c) collecting a stream containing char;
• Step (d) collecting an aerosol stream;
• Step (e) producing a gas stream and a condensables stream from the aerosol stream of Step (d);
• and,
• Step (f) separating the condensables stream of Step (e) into i) an aqueous product stream and ii) oligomeric lignin.