The energy supply of the endothermic lignin pyrolysis process in a circulating fluidized bed is to be achieved by recirculation of bed material, which is heated by combustion of the by-products char and permanent gases in a separate combustor. The feasibility of this concept is examined by the investigation of the yield of the byproducts in pyrolysis experiments, char combustion kinetics, the pyrolysis energy demand and the combustion energy of the char and the non-condensable gases. It is shown that the integrated pyrolysis-combustion process is feasible and even produces an energy surplus of 4 MJ/kg raw lignin, which can be used in the downstream processing of pyrolysis products
