the.com/pyrolysis
burning something without oxygen, just to watch it fall apart into new things.
means decomposing a material using heat alone, no oxygen involved, so it breaks into simpler chemical pieces instead of just combusting.
from from greek pyr, fire, and lysis, loosening or separation — coined for chemistry describing heat that unbinds rather than burns.
no oxygenthat absence is the entire point, unlike combustion
charcoal makinghumans have used it for over 5000 years
plastic to fuelcan turn old plastics back into crude oil
coffee roastingpartly pyrolysis, cracking sugars into flavor compounds
for instance
charcoal kilns — wood heated airless for centuries to make fuel
tire pyrolysis plants — modern facilities turning scrap tires into oil and carbon black
biochar production — agricultural waste pyrolyzed into soil-enriching carbon
e-waste recycling — used to recover metals from circuit boards