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Keywords: Torrefaction; Oxidizing atmosphere; Patula pine wood chips; Physicochemical characterization
INTRODUCTION
The increase in greenhouse gas emissions have promoted the use of biomass for
renewable energy (National Climatic Data Center (NOAA) 2015). Forest biomass is
advantageous for its energy potential, due to its large and decentralized availability. It can
be used as feedstock to produce bioenergy and/or bioproducts under thermochemical
biorefinery applications (Commission Staff Working Document 2014). The use of biomass
as feedstock for thermochemical or manufacture processes provides an alternative to fossil
fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas (U.S. Energy Information Administration 2015).
Short rotation and fast growing biomasses could be a feasible energy source due to
the low global warming potential of CO2 emissions (Liu et al. 2017). This fact alone helps
to achieve the goals proposed during the 21st Conference of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (COP21– Paris 2015) to face the greenhouse emissions
issue (Díez and Pérez 2017).
Biomass shows several disadvantages regarding fossil fuels (e.g. coal), due to its
low bulk density and heating value (Arias et al. 2008; Manunya Phanphanich et al. 2011).
The average gross heating value of wood biomass is about 20.2 MJ/kg with regard to
Colombian coals, which ranges between 27.7 and 33.9 MJ/kg; therefore, large amounts of
biomass are needed to satisfy a given energy demand (Lenis et al. 2013; Pérez et al. 2015).
EXPERIMENTAL
Materials
Currently, Colombia produces around 10.4 million m3 of wood for domestic
consumption exclusively. This wood volume represents 80% of the national production.
Unfortunately, the majority of these crops come from natural forests, which do not meet the
sustainability criteria (Pérez and Osorio 2014). In contrast, the country has a potential of 17
million ha that is suitable for forestry. Antioquia, Caldas, and Córdoba are the states with
the biggest forest planted areas for commercial purposes under sustainability criteria. In
these planted areas, the most common species are pines (Pinus patula and Pinus
tecunumanii), and cedar (Cupressus lusitánica) (ProExport 2012). Besides its large planted
area, patula pine has a high mean annual increment (MAI, approximately 20 m3/ha/year)
and low harvesting time (13 years) (Pérez and Osorio 2014).
In this study, small-diameter logs were obtained from a commercial sawmill located
nearby Medellín, Colombia. The wood sample was previously debarked and then chipped
using a Bandit 95XP chipper (Bandit Industries, Inc., Remus, MI, US), then placed on the
floor and dried at room conditions for two weeks. The dried wood chips were sieved
manually with metal sieves for 10 min and classified by size. The particle size selected to
be torrefied was between 10 mm and 20 mm because some thermochemical processing
technologies (e.g. fixed bed gasification or combustion) operate with this size range (Pérez
et al. 2012).
Experimental setup
Experiments were performed in a batch rotary kiln (Terrigeno industry® and
University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia), pictured in Fig. 1. The drum (5) was coupled
to a variable speed drive system composed by a sprocket-chain system and an electrical
worm gear reducer (9, 10, and 11). The reactor capacity ranged from 2 kg to 3 kg, regarding
the biomass bulk density. Electrical resistors (13) heated the reactor, in which the
temperature was measured by a K-type thermocouple (T1, Termocuplas S.A., ± 1.0 ºC) and
Experimental plan
The torrefaction tests were conducted with 50 g (± 1 g) of patula pine wood chips.
The heating method was programmed with a heating rate of 10 °C/min, and the residence
time started once the target temperature was reached. Air flow fixed in the experiment was
1 standard liter per minute (sLpm) to obtain a superficial velocity of 0.14 mm/s inside the
reactor. Torrefaction temperatures defined for this work were 180 °C, 210 ºC and 240 °C.
The residence time varied from 30 min, 75 min to 120 min. The levels of the factors
considered in this work were similar to the settings used by other authors. Low superficial
velocities of the carrier gas allowed large mass yields obtained during the torrefaction
process (Chen et al. 2013), and Joshi et al. (2015) reported ignition zones of biomass at 240
ºC using air as carrier gas in the torrefaction process. Table 1 shows the experimental set
conditions in this work.
Additionally, a severity factor (SF) was introduced, which quantified the torrefaction
severity combining temperature and residence time. Equation 1 shows how to determine the
severity factor of a torrefaction condition, as stated by Na et al. (2014).
T T
SF log t exp torr r (1)
14.75
where t is the residence time (min), Ttorr and Tr are the torrefaction temperature and a
reference temperature (°C), respectively; the Tr is often 100 °C (Na et al. 2014). It is
considered that a temperature above 100 °C promotes not only moisture evaporation, but
also the release of volatile matter present in the wood. After the torrefaction process, the
pine wood chips were ground and sieved using a 35-mesh screen, where the passed fraction
was used in the further characterization.
Energy yield
The energy yield (Ey) indicates how much energy is retained in the biomass after the
torrefaction process relative to the initial energy content in the raw material (Chen et al.
2015). This parameter involves the mass and heating value changes, as shown in Eq. 3. The
LHVraw and LHVtorr are the initial and final lower heating values of biomass after torrefaction
process in kJ/kg.
mtorr LHVtorr LHVtorr
E y (%) 100 m y (3)
mraw LHVraw LHVraw
Energy-mass co-benefit index
The energy-mass co-benefit index (EMCI) was proposed by Lu et al. (2012) to
quantify the enhancement of energy content of the remaining mass after the torrefaction
process. The EMCI (%) is the difference between the energy and mass yields (Eq. 4).
Proximate analysis
The moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash contents associated to the
proximate analysis of each sample were determined by means of a thermogravimetric
analyzer Q50 (TA Instruments, New Castle, USA). The method to conduct the analysis
proposed by Medic et al. (2012) was modified taking into account the ASTM D 3174-12
standard to determine the ash content (ASTM International 2012). The modified TGA
method is presented in Table 2.
Ultimate analysis
A CHNSO LECO Truspec Micro equipment (Leco®, St. Joseph, MI, US) was used
to estimate the ultimate analysis of the samples. Tests were conducted, according to the
ASTM D 5373-08 (2012) standard. The carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen analyses were
performed in a helium environment at 1050 °C; whereas the oxygen content was determined
by the mass difference. The tests were conducted in triplicate.
where C, H, and N are the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen contents from the ultimate
analysis in wt.% on a dry basis, respectively. To observe the effect of the torrefaction
process on the heating value of biomass, the lower heating value (LHV) was used in this
study. The LHV is calculated by the correlation presented in Díez and Pérez (2017),
LHVdb=HHVdb-2260 Mdb - 20300Hdb, where HHVdb (kJ/kg) is the higher heating value on
dry basis, Mdb is the moisture content of the sample (%dry basis), and Hdb is the hydrogen
(% dry basis).
100
30 min
75 min
80 120 min
Mass yield (%)
60
40
20
180 210 240
Torrefaction temperature ( C)
Fig. 2. Mass yield
100
30 min
75 min
80
Energy yield (%)
120 min
60
40
20
180 210 240
Torrefaction temperature ( C)
Fig. 3. Energy yield
Unlike this study, Chen et al. (2014a) obtained higher energy yields, although they
conducted torrefaction experiments at higher temperatures than 240 °C (45 °C higher
approximately). Results reported by these authors could be associated with differences in
experimental setup and the biomass particle size and shape (cut blocks). In contrast, similar
results to this work were reported by Lu et al. (2012), who obtained low energy yields,
around 36.5%, for torrefied eucalyptus at 350 ºC, this temperature favored the carbonization
of the material. Thereby, it is worth mentioning that the particle size and shape of biomass
are fundamental variables that affect the torrefaction process. These parameters will be
discussed in future works.
10
∆EMCI (%)
-5
-10
180 210 240
Torrefaction temperature ( C)
Fig. 4. Energy-mass co-benefit index
180 500
Bulk density (kg/m3)
450
160 400
50 350
HGIeq
140 45
40
120 35
Raw 180 °C 210 °C 240 °C 30
100 0 2 4 6 8
75 30 120 Severity factor
Residence time (min)
a) Bulk density b) HGIeq
Fig. 5. Physical properties of raw and torrefied patula pine chips
Figure 5b shows the HGIeq as a function of the torrefaction severity factor (Table
1), to show the progressive change in the grindability behavior of the pretreated material.
An increase in the process severity favored the grindability of pine wood chips, particularly
under the most severe conditions (240 °C). Ohliger et al. (2013) reported that biomass
grindability increased when mass losses surpassed 30%, due to the thermal degradation of
hemicellulose. A higher HGIeq was associated with lower energy consumption required to
grind torrefied material (Williams et al. 2015). Ibrahim et al. (2013) presented values of
HGIeq for different wood biomass torrefied at different temperatures (270 °C and 290 °C)
and time conditions (30 min and 60 min) under an inert atmosphere. Their results for
torrefied eucalyptus (HGIeq = 38.9 to 46.8) were similar to the results obtained in this study.
Figure 6 shows the physical changes that occurred during torrefaction of patula pine
wood chips at different pretreatment conditions. It can be seen how torrefaction severity
affected the wood chips color. Torrefied pine at 240 °C had a char-like appearance, due to
the carbonization reactions occurred during the pretreatment. Changes in the color of
torrefied materials resulted from the oxidation of phenolic compounds, presence of reduced
C H N O 1.8
Biomass
100 Peat
Composition (wt.% daf)
1.5
Atomic H:C ratio
Lignite
80 Coal
1.2 Anthracite
60
0.9
40 Raw 180-30
0.6 180-75 180-120
20 210-30 210-75
Increased
0.3 Heating Value 210-120 240-30
0
240-75 240-120
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Atomic O:C ratio
a) Ultimate analysis b) Van Krevelen
Fig. 7. Chemical properties and composition of pine under the different torrefaction conditions
Figure 8 shows the relative change in the FVI for the torrefied pine regarding the
raw material (baseline). The most severe conditions (i.e., 240 °C) had a negative effect on
0.6
ΔFVI (MJ/cm3)
0.0
-0.6
-1.2
180 210 240
Torrefaction temperature ( C)
Fig. 8. FVI changes for torrefied pine regarding the raw material
FVI (MJ/cm3)
180-120
5 210-30
210-75
0 210-120
240-30
-5 240-75
-5 0 5 10 15 240-120
EMCI (%)
Fig. 9. FVI and EMCI for raw and torrefied patula pine
Statistical analysis
The analysis of the response surface of answer variables is reported according to the
statistical experimental design. Correlations of mass and energy yields, LHV, FVI, and
EMCI have been fitted in function of torrefaction temperature (Ttorr in ºC) and residence
time (t in min) using Statgraphics® software (version Centurion XVI, Warrenton, US).
According to the statistical analysis of the experimental data, analyzing the coefficients of
the response surfaces, it is possible to state what factors are statistically meaningful and how
the answer variable is affected if Ttorr and/or t increase. The results of response surfaces and
their R2 are shown in Eqs. 9 to 13.
Response surface correlations R2 (%) Eq.
my (%) = -864.755 + 0.126t + 9.958Ttorr + 8.31010-4t2 –
99.87 (9)
1.52010-3tTtorr – 2.57410-2Ttorr2
Ey (%) = -902.556 + 0.812t + 9.919 Ttorr - 4.23710-3t Ttorr -
98.42 (10)
2.47010-2 Ttorr2
LHV (MJ/kg) = 73.17 + 0.146t - 0.674 Ttorr - 7.2610-4t Ttorr
94.35 (11)
+ 1.95510-3 Ttorr2
The statistical R2 obtained through the data fitting of the experimental design
indicated that the factors taken into account (torrefaction temperature and residence time)
explained between 89.7% and 99.87% of the variability of the response variables associated
to the torrefaction process using air as carrier gas under conditions of this work.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge Universidad de Antioquia for its financial support to this
research through the projects, “Integration Strategies of wood Planted in Colombia under
Thermochemical Bio-refinery Concepts: Thermodynamic Analysis and Characterization of
Bioproducts– PRG 2014-1016” and “Sostenibilidad [Sustainability] 2016-2017,” and
through the Tutor student program. Also, the authors acknowledge the Environmental and
Engineering Research Center of Universidad de Antioquia for its financial support through
the CODI PR 15-2-09 project. The advice provided by Professor Ingry Natalia Gomez-
Miranda for the statistical analysis is also acknowledged.
REFERENCES CITED
Arias, B., Pevida, C., Fermoso, J., Plaza, M. G., Rubiera, F., and Pis, J. J. (2008).
“Influence of torrefaction on the grindability and reactivity of woody biomass,” Fuel
Processing Technology 89(2), 169–175. DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2007.09.002
ASTM D409/D409M-11a (2012). “Standard test method for grindability of coal by the
hardgrove-machine method,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM D5373-08 (2012). “Standard test methods for instrumental determination of
Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen in laboratory samples of coal,” ASTM International,
West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM D3174-12 (2012). “Standard test method for ash in the analysis sample of coal and
coke from coal,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA.
Article submitted: March 6, 2017; Peer review completed: May 22, 2017; Revisions
accepted: June 8, 2017; Published: June 13, 2017.
DOI: 10.15376/biores.12.3.5428-5448