Micro-ratcheted surfaces for a heat engine biomass conveyor

Cellulosic particles on surfaces consisting of microstructured, asymmetric ratchets (100 by 400 μm) were observed to spontaneously move orthogonal to ratchet wells above the cellulose reactive Leidenfrost temperature (>750 °C). Evaluation of the accelerating particles supported the mechanism of propelling viscous forces (50–200 nN) from rectified pyrolysis vapors, thus providing the first example of biomass conveyors with no moving parts driven by high temperature for biofuel reactors.