{ "model": { "rank": 6906, "code": "thing-q176848", "model_id": "vr.tr.pyrolysis", "name": "pyrolysis", "purpose": "Let an agent explain pyrolysis and its chemistry, relay processes, products and applications from chemistry and engineering references, describe wood and biomass pyrolysis and waste treatment, and distinguish pyrolysis from combustion, gasification, torrefaction and hydrothermal processes.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Activities and processes", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "ACT", "domain": "ACT.PRC", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q176848/", "tier": 2, "score": 58, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "pyrolysis of wood" ], "aliasCount": 1, "merged": 1, "knownIn": 58, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q176848", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q176848", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T13:33:52Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 4, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q176848", "registryId": "vr.tr.pyrolysis", "name": "pyrolysis", "version": "0.2.0-wave.4", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "ACT.PRC" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q176848/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.pyrolysis", "name": "pyrolysis", "purpose": "Let an agent explain pyrolysis and its chemistry, relay processes, products and applications from chemistry and engineering references, describe wood and biomass pyrolysis and waste treatment, and distinguish pyrolysis from combustion, gasification, torrefaction and hydrothermal processes.", "definition": "The thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen, breaking down organic matter into gases, liquids and solid char, as in the pyrolysis of wood to make charcoal, wood gas and tar, of biomass to make bio-oil and biochar, of plastics and tyres for recycling, and of hydrocarbons in cracking; pyrolysis is a chemical reaction class central to industry, energy and analytical chemistry.", "what_it_is_for": "Converting materials into fuels, chemicals and char.", "affordances": [ "explain the chemistry", "relay processes and products", "describe applications", "distinguish related processes" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Oxygen-free", "Gas, liquid and char products", "Slow and fast modes", "Industrial and analytical" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; heated reactors producing gas, oil and char.", "visual_identification": [ "Thermal decomposition without oxygen", "Pyrolysis of wood, biomass, plastics, tyres; cracking", "Combustion needs oxygen; gasification uses limited oxygen; torrefaction is mild; hydrothermal processes use water" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "typical temperature", "typical_range": "about 300-900", "unit": "C", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "wood pyrolysis products", "typical_range": "charcoal, wood gas, tar, pyroligneous acid", "unit": "list", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "fast pyrolysis bio-oil yield", "typical_range": "up to about 75", "unit": "percent", "note": "by mass" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "slow pyrolysis for charcoal and biochar", "fast pyrolysis for bio-oil", "pyrolysis of wood", "plastic and tyre pyrolysis", "hydrocarbon cracking", "analytical pyrolysis with gas chromatography" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "chemical reaction", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "produces", "target": "charcoal", "why": "from wood" }, { "relation": "is contrasted with", "target": "combustion", "why": "which needs oxygen" }, { "relation": "is related to", "target": "gasification", "why": "with limited oxygen" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "Emissions and waste treatment regulations for pyrolysis plants", "Biochar certification standards", "Fire safety rules for charcoal production" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Toxic and flammable products", "Confusing pyrolysis with combustion or gasification", "Overstated claims for plastic pyrolysis, with positions attributed" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What pyrolysis is.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is pyrolysis, and how does it differ from combustion, gasification, torrefaction and hydrothermal processes?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about the chemistry, a feedstock, a process or an application?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "chemistry", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry.", "findings": [ { "id": "chemistry-finding", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry.", "questions": [ { "text": "What reactions occur as cellulose, lignin, plastics or hydrocarbons decompose?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits thermal decomposition?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "processes", "name": "Processes", "description": "Processes.", "rationale": "Practice.", "layers": [ { "id": "wood", "name": "Wood", "description": "Wood and biomass.", "findings": [ { "id": "wood-finding", "name": "Wood", "description": "Wood.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are charcoal, biochar and bio-oil made from wood and biomass by slow and fast pyrolysis?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "waste", "name": "Waste", "description": "Waste and plastics.", "findings": [ { "id": "waste-finding", "name": "Waste", "description": "Waste.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are plastics and tyres pyrolysed, and what are the debates about chemical recycling, with positions attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "applications", "name": "Applications", "description": "Applications.", "rationale": "Application.", "layers": [ { "id": "industry", "name": "Industry", "description": "Industry.", "findings": [ { "id": "industry-finding", "name": "Industry", "description": "Industry.", "questions": [ { "text": "How is pyrolysis used in cracking, coke making and carbon materials?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits cracking (chemistry)?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "analysis", "name": "Analysis", "description": "Analytical pyrolysis.", "findings": [ { "id": "analysis-finding", "name": "Analysis", "description": "Analysis.", "questions": [ { "text": "How is analytical pyrolysis used to identify polymers and materials?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits pyrolysis-gas chromatography?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Environment and history.", "rationale": "Context.", "layers": [ { "id": "environment", "name": "Environment", "description": "Environment.", "findings": [ { "id": "environment-finding", "name": "Environment", "description": "Environment.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the emissions and climate implications of pyrolysis and biochar, with assessments attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits biochar?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How has pyrolysis been used from ancient charcoal burning to modern refineries?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the history of charcoal?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should charcoal production and biochar be separate primary entries?", "How should chemistry and engineering sources be linked?", "How should the registry alias pyrolysis of wood be recorded?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a pyrolysis, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain pyrolysis and its chemistry, relay processes, products and applications from chemistry and engineering references, describe wood and biomass pyrolysis and waste treatment, and distinguish pyrolysis from combustion, gasification, torrefaction and hydrothermal processes.", "characteristics": { "substance": "activity", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: pyrolysis of wood.", "1 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 58 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a pyrolysis, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "something that happens over time", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "pyrolysis of wood" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 58 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 1 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one pyrolysis from another, and a pyrolysis from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a pyrolysis sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a pyrolysis from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a pyrolysis passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a pyrolysis between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a pyrolysis, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a pyrolysis is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "process-and-outcome", "name": "Process, inputs and outcome", "description": "How a pyrolysis proceeds, what it needs and what it leaves behind.", "rationale": "An activity is known by its steps and its results, and both have to be recordable while it is still running.", "layers": [ { "id": "steps-and-sequence", "name": "Steps and sequence", "description": "The steps of a pyrolysis, their order and what may run in parallel.", "findings": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions", "name": "Steps, preconditions and completion", "description": "What has to be true before each step of a pyrolysis and what marks it done.", "questions": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a step of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a step of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a step of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-results", "name": "Inputs, resources and results", "description": "What a pyrolysis consumes and what it produces.", "findings": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs", "name": "Inputs, outputs and side effects", "description": "The resources a pyrolysis takes and the results it leaves, wanted or not.", "questions": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the inputs and results of a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the inputs and results of a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the inputs and results of a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What pyrolysis is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of pyrolysis are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is pyrolysis operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of pyrolysis and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of pyrolysis?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as pyrolysis?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a pyrolysis came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a pyrolysis and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a pyrolysis is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a pyrolysis, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a pyrolysis, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a pyrolysis is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }