—A numerical study based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is proposed to solve one, two and three dimensional heat and mass transfer for isothermal carbonization of thick wood particles. To check the validity of the proposed model, computational results have been compared with the published data and a good agreement is obtained. Then, the model is used to study the effect of reactor temperature and thermal boundary conditions, on the evolution of the local temperature and the mass distributions of the wood particle during carbonization. —Lattice Boltzmann Method, pyrolysis conduction, carbonization, Heat and mass transfer. I. INTRODUCTION OOD carbonization is a promising route for production of charcoal as well as gaseous fuels. However, experimental results show that the thermal decomposition of the material wood is an unpredictable and complex process. Particularly, the complexity of some phenomena during the carbonization of thick wood particles, such as heat and mass transfer within the wood, chemical reactions and mechanical deformations, and the absence of detailed information about the chemical kinetics and the evolution of the thermal properties of wood in the different stages of decomposition from the virgin wood up to the charcoal constitute a major problem to the development of relevant models of carbonization. Salazar et al. [1]–[3] studied the influence of the size and shape of the wood particles on the pyrolysis mechanisms. According to these authors, the thermal decomposition of wood results in three parallel reactions of first order, corresponding respectively to the decomposition of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. The reactions rate is described by an Arrhenius formalism, whose kinetic parameters are determined experimentally. This model gave satisfaction only for wood particles whose diameters are lower than 20mm. Koufopanos et al. [4] defined a model in which they coupled conduction heat transfer with chemical kinetics. They concluded that the reactions heat can be represented by endothermic or exothermic values according to the conversion rate. The model predictions show a good agreement with experimental data relevant to a diameter of 20mm. Di Blasi Ahmed Mahmoudi is with Unité de Recherche Matériaux, Energie et Energies Renouvelables (MEER), Faculté des Sciences de Gafsa, B.P.19, Zarroug, Gafsa, 2112, Tunisie (Corresponding author; e?mail: ahmed.mahmoudi@yahoo.fr). Imen Mejri, Mohamed A. Abbassi, and Ahmed Omri are with Unité de Recherche Matériaux, Energie et Energies Renouvelables (MEER), Faculté des Sciences de Gafsa, B.P.19, Zarroug, Gafsa, 2112, Tunisie (e?mail: im.mejri85@yahoo.fr, abbassima@gmail.com ahom206@yahoo.fr). and Russo [5], [6] proposed a model based on three primary reactions and two secondary reactions that follow the formalism of Arrhenius. Also, the model takes into account conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer. The validation of this model with the experimental data of Lee et al. [7] relevant to a diameter of 25mm shows good predictions only for short reaction times. Gronli [8] developed a transient mono?dimensional model for the simulation of humid wood drying and pyrolysis. This model is based on a wood decomposition scheme including three parallel reactions leading to simultaneous production of gas, tar and charcoal and takes into account interactions between mass, momentum and heat transfer in the porous structure of the wood. The model leads to the study of the effect of the wood particle diameter (1≤d≤100mm) and the intensity of the heating flux (50≤Ф≤200kWm²) on the temperature profile and the production rate of different products. The predictions of this model are in good agreement with their experimental data. Larfeldt et al. [9] have modified the mono?dimensional model of Melaaen [10] to take into account the structural changes during pyrolysis of the wood. In comparison with the experimental data, the results of the modified model show an important reduction of pyrolysis time. Peters and Bruch [11] have developed a numerical study similar to that of Gronli [8] that was positively validated experimentally. Abbassi et al. [12] investigated into pyrolysis of biomass both experimentally and numerically. The reactor was divided into three zones that were treated as perfectly stirred reactors. Tar as a major product of pyrolysis was assumed to crack into methane CH 4 , carbon monoxide CO, carbon dioxide CO 2 and hydrogen H 2 , determined by an Arrhenius expression. The model was validated with measurements and was used to control plant operation. Rattea et al. [13] predicted pyrolysis of wood waste by a model approach developed earlier by Peters [14] and proved that this approach may also be employed to large wood particles. The latter approach has also been used by Sadhukhan et al. [15] for large wood particles and they emphasised that intra?particle convection is important. Dupont et al. [16] performed biomass pyrolysis also in an entrained flow reactor under high temperatures from 1073 to 1273K and high heat fluxes (10–100kW/m 2 ). Their experimental results were compared to predictions of the kinetic mechanism of Ranzi et al. [17] and encouraged design and understanding of industrial gasifiers. The aim of this work is to apply the lattice Boltzmann method to the resolution of the wood carbonization problem. 1D, 2D and 3D models with different thermal boundary conditions are studied for modeling the wood carbonization. Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of the Carbonization of Wood Particle Ahmed Mahmoudi, Imen Mejri, Mohamed A. Abbassi, Ahmed Omri W World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Mathematical, Computational, Statistical, Natural and Physical Engineering Vol:8, No:4, 2014 672 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 8(4) 2014 International Science Index Vol:8, No:4, 2014 waset.org/Publication/9998112