As one of the leading technologies in the field of the biomass thermochemical treatment, the biomass microwave pyrolysis enjoys the advantages of fast reaction rate, easy control, safety and no pollution. However, there are some problems in the gas production, such as low yield and low calorific value, which seriously restricts the comprehensive and efficient utilization of the biomass energy. In this paper, the principle of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis is introduced. From the latest researches at home and abroad, four aspects of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis technology are highlighted: improving the gas production yield and the calorific value, effectively removing the tar, inhibiting the pollutant generation and reducing the system energy consumption. On this basis, the limitations of the tar model compounds and the problems in the tar conversion and removal are reviewed in detail. In view of the above problems, some scientific and reasonable suggestions are given. Combined with the development trend of the microwave pyrolysis gas production technology, the main development directions based on the future industrial applications such as accelerating the transformation from the theoretical and experimental research to the industrial application research are put forward.

biomass microwave pyrolysis  /  syngas yield  /  tar  /  pollutant  /  system energy consumption