Recebido em 22/10/10; aceito em 10/3/11; publicado na web em 5/5/11 CURRENT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT OF GTL TECHNOLOGY AND PERSPECTIVES FOR BRAZIL. Although the production of liquid fuels from coal, natural gas (CTL and GTL processes) and other carbon sources has been discovered 90 years ago, the interest was renewed in the last years motivated by stranded gas reserves and by petroleum market instability. This review intends to show the scenario of these technologies nowadays, discussing the applied technologies, the steps in an industrial plant, the ways to produce syngas and liquid fuels, the catalysts used, the type of reactors and the operating plants with their respective capacities, besides the technical, economical and environmental viability, challenges and perspectives for Brazil.

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The thermal degradation of lignocellulosic materials is one of the most promising approaches for obtaining energy sources and chemical products. In this study, the chemical and thermochemical characterization of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds and residues showed that biomass can potentially be used to produce energy through a thermochemical conversion process. The seeds and biomasses of Moringa oleifera Lam. were submitted to pyrolysis, the main method of thermochemical conversion. Pyrolysis reactions were conducted in a stainless steel fixed-bed reactor under atmospheric nitrogen pressure, temperatures of 500-600 °C and N 2 gas flow of 1 and 3 mL min −1. The calorific value of the biomass ranged from 17 to 21 MJ/kg. The results obtained in the optimization of the pyrolysis conditions in a fixed-bed reactor, the temperature of 600 °C, and N 2 flow of 1 mL min −1 , were selected. The chromatographic analysis (GC/MS) of the bio-oil allowed the identification and semiquantification of the different chemical classes present in the bio-oils (acids, phenols, oleonitriles, hydrocarbons, aromatics, ketones, aldehydes, ether, amines, amides, alcohol). High content of carboxylic acids (superior values 70%) was observed for the seeds and mechanical residue, and a high content of phenolic and nitrogen compounds, with 43% in both cases, for the Soxhlet residue. The moringa residues can be considered as a productive source of bioproducts, significantly reducing the harmful effects of chemicals originating from fossil fuels, while minimizing the disposal of waste into the environment.