Recently, the People’s Government of Henan Province formally issued the certificate for the 2025 Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award. As a core player to fulfil the project, Hefei Debo Bioenergy Technology Co., Ltd., through cooperation with universities and professional industry expert teams to finish the project named Technology and Application of Torrefaction & Pyrolysis for High-quality Syngas and Biochar Production and Carbon Circulation, has claimed the First Prize of Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award. Mr. Zhang Shoujun, Chairman of Debo Energy and core R&D developer of the project, was also granted the individual First Prize simultaneously.

The First Prize of Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award represents the top provincial-level science and technology honor set up by the People’s Government of Henan Province. This award proves that Debo-developed complete sets of equipment and process technology of biomass torrefaction and pyrolysis for co-production of syngas and biochar and full-process carbon circulation have reached domestically leading and internationally advanced levels, providing a complete and viable industrial solution for large-scale low-carbon and high-value utilization of agricultural and forestry waste nationwide.

Breaking through Challenges of the Biomass Energy Industry

China possesses enormous reserves of biomass feedstock such as crop straw and wood shavings, yet traditional utilization modes are trapped in multiple technical bottlenecks. Single pyrolysis technology generates products with low added value and unstable quality, alongside tough challenges in treating tar. Carbon sequestration and energy output cannot operate in synergy, making it impossible to strike a balance between carbon sequestration for emission reduction and economic benefits, which greatly limits the large-scale market promotion of biomass energy.

Against such a backdrop, Debo Energy and its research partners developed an integrated complete set of targeted technology named “preliminary biomass torrefaction modification + graded pyrolysis for co-production of syngas and biochar + closed-loop carbon circulation”. This system covers the full industrial chain process, ranging from raw material pretreatment, torrefaction quality upgrading, graded pyrolysis and fuel gas purification, to high-value modification of biochar and carbon sink accounting, filling the critical technical gaps that have long plagued the whole industry.

Core Technological Innovations

Low-temperature torrefaction Upgrading Pretreatment Technology

The technology adopts a medium-temperature torrefaction process running at 200–300°C to conduct in-situ dehydration and devolatilization on low-grade biomass materials including straw and wood chips. It raises the calorific value of raw feedstock by more than 25%, drastically cuts energy consumption and costs for storage and transportation, and solves the material loss problem caused by high-moisture biomass during stockpiling and logistics.

Graded Pyrolysis Process for Co-production of High-quality Fuel Gas and Biochar

The dual-bed pyrolysis reactor realizes synchronous directional production of hydrogen-rich fuel gas and porous biochar. The fuel gas maintains stable high hydrogen content with tar conversion rate exceeding 99%, which can be directly applied to clean heating, industrial fuel supply and synthetic chemical raw materials. The pore structure of produced biochar is controllable, enabling deep processing into a wide range of high-value products including soil-improving biochar fertilizer, industrial adsorbent carbon and energy storage capacitor carbon.

Full-chain Closed-loop Carbon Circulation System

A complete carbon circulation pathway of “biomass carbon sequestration – carbon sequestration via pyrolytic biochar – soil carbon sequestration through carbon products – resource recovery of tail gas” is established. Biomass absorbs CO₂ from the atmosphere during its growth cycle, and stable biochar generated from pyrolysis can lock carbon in place for hundreds to thousands of years. Matched with a complete carbon accounting system, the technology can quantify carbon emission reduction benefits, meeting the demands of domestic development of carbon sink projects and corporates’ carbon neutrality transformation.

Complete Sets of Modular Equipment for Industrial Commercialization

Debo Energy takes charge of the R&D and engineering implementation of core complete equipment for pyrolysis, torrefaction and fuel gas purification. The equipment features high automation, compatible with two application scenarios: small distributed stations in towns and 100,000-ton large-scale production lines in industrial parks, with a full 100% localization rate for all equipment components.

About the Award

The Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award is established and issued by the People’s Government of Henan Province, standing as one of the highest provincial science and technology awards in Henan. It is only awarded to project completion entities and core R&D personnel who have made major breakthroughs in technological innovation, achievement transformation and industrial application, while generating remarkable economic and social benefits.

Debo Energy’s Continuous In-depth Research and Development

As a specialized enterprise deeply engaged in biomass pyrolysis and gasification equipment development in China, Debo Energy has long focused on R&D of resource utilization of agricultural and forestry waste and negative-carbon carbon circulation technology. This joint research project forms a closed-loop full industrial chain covering “raw material – torrefaction – pyrolysis – gas and biochar products – carbon sequestration”, addressing three core pain points that have restricted the large-scale promotion of biomass energy for years: cost control, product quality and carbon utilization.

Moving forward, Debo Energy will keep increasing investment in research and development. Relying on this award-winning technological achievement, Debo will speed up the layout of demonstration projects across the globe, and continuously offer complete biomass gasification solutions which are localized, low-cost and high-emission-reduction, striving to boost China’s energy structure transformation and support the full implementation of China’s carbon neutrality strategy.