How to Use pyrolysis in a Sentence

pyrolysis

noun
  • Some plastics are simply burned, or decompose with heat in a process known as pyrolysis to produce fuel.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 20 July 2017
  • Initially press down with the thunderhead just hard enough for pyrolysis to begin.
    — Bradley Duncan, Discover Magazine, 25 Dec. 2023
  • To this end, pyrolysis is performed in the presence catalysts.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 5 Apr. 2018
  • At least 90% of the naphtha used in pyrolysis is fossil fuel naphtha.
    — Lisa Song, ProPublica, 20 June 2024
  • The company planned to use a process known as pyrolysis to break down used gloves, tubing and syringes to generate power.
    — From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 15 July 2021
  • One such method is pyrolysis, a procedure in which plastics are heated to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen.
    — Sarah Deweerdt, Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2022
  • First, shrimp waste undergoes pyrolysis, a high-temperature process that transforms it into biochar.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2025
  • While most fires utilize the combustion process, biochar is created via pyrolysis, which only occurs in the absence of oxygen.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Through a process called pyrolysis, carbon waste from tires is transformed into a crucial component of the desalination unit.
    — Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Instead, the wood debris is loaded into large kilns, where the heat burns at three times the temperature of fire and the oxygen is sucked from the chamber in a process called pyrolysis.
    — Jesse Bedayn, ajc, 17 Feb. 2023
  • The solvents will break down polymers into shorter chains, much like pyrolysis and gasification do, to then be reformed into new plastic.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 28 May 2021
  • Biochar is made by heating organic waste at high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment, through a process called pyrolysis.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025
  • Critics argue plastic pyrolysis produces a very small amount of useful products and emits harmful pollutants.
    — The Arizona Republic, 3 May 2023
  • That said, polymer chains such as those in Plexiglass can be broken via a process of thermal decomposition known as pyrolysis.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 3 Mar. 2025
  • This leads to pyrolysis, or thermal decomposition, which causes the collagen to break down into gasses.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Aug. 2022
  • But in theory, the smaller molecules that pyrolysis yields could be reassembled back into plastics.
    — Sarah Deweerdt, Scientific American, 13 Dec. 2022
  • As the capsule dipped into the atmosphere, internal layers became scorching hot through a process called pyrolysis, trapping gas.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Hydrogen pyrolysis starts with methane, the main component in natural gas.
    — Ed Ballard, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
  • The main method, a process known as pyrolysis, has long been regulated as incineration by the Clean Air Act.
    — ABC News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • As a result, pyrolysis simply isn't feasible for the large-scale recycling of Plexiglass.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Other petroleum is trapped far beneath the earth or locked in sedimentary shale rocks, and requires deep drilling and elaborate fracking or high-heat pyrolysis to be usable.
    — Niall Ferguson, TIME, 2 Aug. 2024
  • Because Kore uses pyrolysis to do its work, a Kore facility produces no smoke or other off-gases.
    — Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, Forbes, 2 May 2022
  • And the largest waste plastic pyrolysis plant in the world from Brightmark is nearing completion in Ashley, Indiana, with more larger plants on the way.
    — Brentan Alexander, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2021
  • The agency says a potential new rule could instead recognize pyrolysis as manufacturing.
    — ABC News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The latter is a charcoal-like material produced via a process called pyrolysis, in which heat is used to decompose wood chips and other organic material in the absence of oxygen.
    — New Atlas, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Vales said Wastefront uses a thermochemical process known as pyrolysis, which heats the waste tires at 450 degrees and produces no carbon emissions.
    — Jamie Hailstone, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2022
  • The company had proposed doing what’s called pyrolysis on Division Road in West Warwick.
    — Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Revenue was generated from the company's subsidiary, Clean-Seas Morocco, through the sale of pyrolysis oil.
    — Quartz Bot, Quartz, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Plastic-to-fuel conversion involves pyrolysis or gasification, both of which use heat and chemical processes to break down plastic waste into products that are turned into fuels.
    — Christopher Marquis, Forbes, 12 July 2022
  • Like the conventional hydrogen-production process, hydrogen pyrolysis starts with methane, the main component in natural gas.
    — Ed Ballard, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pyrolysis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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