IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v101y2013icp237-243.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Torrefied, spherical biomass pellets through the use of experimental design

Author

Listed:
  • Duncan, Andrew
  • Pollard, Andrew
  • Fellouah, Hachimi

Abstract

Non-torrefied biomass pellets produced using extrusion methods are mechanically weak and therefore produce fines/dust during handling and transportation, readily absorb moisture, remain biologically active, have low specific energy content together with poor flow and handling characteristics. A new spherical, torrefied biomass pellet is introduced that uses a compression method. The resulting pellet addresses the above noted shortcomings of extruded pellets. Designs of Experiments were constructed to examine the responses of these new pellets. Tests of tensile strength, ultimate and proximate analysis, abrasion resistance, moisture sensitivity, and mass and dimensional characteristics are considered. Pellets were found to have tensile strengths between 855 and 2161N, absorbed between 11.0 and 29.4mass% water, but returned to near ambient conditions in less than 24h, and had a range of gross calorific values between 17.5 and 21.1MJ/kg and had 100% abrasion resistance. The Designs of Experiments were able to produce models with a 95% confidence level for torrefaction, tensile strength, gross calorific value, pellet size, density, and moisture absorption and evaporation. Torrefaction temperature was found to be a dominant influence on the outcome of most pellet characteristics, yet the process is non-optimised in this work and in general is not well understood.

Suggested Citation

  • Duncan, Andrew & Pollard, Andrew & Fellouah, Hachimi, 2013. "Torrefied, spherical biomass pellets through the use of experimental design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 237-243.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:101:y:2013:i:c:p:237-243
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.03.035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261912002395
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.03.035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Cheng, Wen-Yi & Lu, Ke-Miao & Huang, Ying-Pin, 2011. "An evaluation on improvement of pulverized biomass property for solid fuel through torrefaction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(11), pages 3636-3644.
    2. Uslu, Ayla & Faaij, André P.C. & Bergman, P.C.A., 2008. "Pre-treatment technologies, and their effect on international bioenergy supply chain logistics. Techno-economic evaluation of torrefaction, fast pyrolysis and pelletisation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1206-1223.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Chen, Chih-Jung & Hung, Chen-I & Shen, Cheng-Hsien & Hsu, Heng-Wen, 2013. "A comparison of gasification phenomena among raw biomass, torrefied biomass and coal in an entrained-flow reactor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 421-430.
    2. Nunes, L.J.R. & Matias, J.C.O. & Catalão, J.P.S., 2014. "Mixed biomass pellets for thermal energy production: A review of combustion models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 135-140.
    3. Mobini, Mahdi & Sowlati, Taraneh & Sokhansanj, Shahab, 2013. "A simulation model for the design and analysis of wood pellet supply chains," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1239-1249.
    4. Muhammet Enes Önür & Kamil Ekinci & Mihriban Civan & Mehmet Emin Bilgili & Sema Yurdakul, 2023. "Quality Properties and Torrefaction Characteristics of Pellets: Rose Oil Distillation Solid Waste and Red Pine Sawdust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Rudolfsson, Magnus & Borén, Eleonora & Pommer, Linda & Nordin, Anders & Lestander, Torbjörn A., 2017. "Combined effects of torrefaction and pelletization parameters on the quality of pellets produced from torrefied biomass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 414-424.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chai, Li & Saffron, Christopher M., 2016. "Comparing pelletization and torrefaction depots: Optimization of depot capacity and biomass moisture to determine the minimum production cost," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 387-395.
    2. Qi, Jianhui & Zhao, Jianli & Xu, Yang & Wang, Yongjia & Han, Kuihua, 2018. "Segmented heating carbonization of biomass: Yields, property and estimation of heating value of chars," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 301-311.
    3. Rousset, P. & Fernandes, K. & Vale, A. & Macedo, L. & Benoist, A., 2013. "Change in particle size distribution of Torrefied biomass during cold fluidization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 71-77.
    4. Sabil, Khalik M. & Aziz, Muafah A. & Lal, Bhajan & Uemura, Yoshimitsu, 2013. "Synthetic indicator on the severity of torrefaction of oil palm biomass residues through mass loss measurement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 821-826.
    5. Lu, Ke-Miao & Lee, Wen-Jhy & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Lin, Ta-Chang, 2013. "Thermogravimetric analysis and kinetics of co-pyrolysis of raw/torrefied wood and coal blends," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 57-65.
    6. Li, Jun & Brzdekiewicz, Artur & Yang, Weihong & Blasiak, Wlodzimierz, 2012. "Co-firing based on biomass torrefaction in a pulverized coal boiler with aim of 100% fuel switching," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 344-354.
    7. van Vliet, Oscar & van den Broek, Machteld & Turkenburg, Wim & Faaij, André, 2011. "Combining hybrid cars and synthetic fuels with electricity generation and carbon capture and storage," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 248-268, January.
    8. Elodie Le Cadre & Caroline Orset, 2010. "Irreversible investment, uncertainty, and ambiguity: The case of bioenergy sector," Working Papers 2010/03, INRA, Economie Publique.
    9. Batidzirai, B. & Mignot, A.P.R. & Schakel, W.B. & Junginger, H.M. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2013. "Biomass torrefaction technology: Techno-economic status and future prospects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 196-214.
    10. Kargbo, Hannah & Harris, Jonathan Stuart & Phan, Anh N., 2021. "“Drop-in” fuel production from biomass: Critical review on techno-economic feasibility and sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    11. Tran, Khanh-Quang & Luo, Xun & Seisenbaeva, Gulaim & Jirjis, Raida, 2013. "Stump torrefaction for bioenergy application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 539-546.
    12. Fan, Yuyang & Tippayawong, Nakorn & Wei, Guoqiang & Huang, Zhen & Zhao, Kun & Jiang, Liqun & Zheng, Anqing & Zhao, Zengli & Li, Haibin, 2020. "Minimizing tar formation whilst enhancing syngas production by integrating biomass torrefaction pretreatment with chemical looping gasification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    13. Cambero, Claudia & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2014. "Assessment and optimization of forest biomass supply chains from economic, social and environmental perspectives – A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 62-73.
    14. Mirkouei, Amin & Haapala, Karl R. & Sessions, John & Murthy, Ganti S., 2017. "A review and future directions in techno-economic modeling and optimization of upstream forest biomass to bio-oil supply chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 15-35.
    15. Agar, David A. & Rudolfsson, Magnus & Lavergne, Simon & Melkior, Thierry & Da Silva Perez, Denilson & Dupont, Capucine & Campargue, Matthieu & Kalén, Gunnar & Larsson, Sylvia H., 2021. "Pelleting torrefied biomass at pilot-scale – Quality and implications for co-firing," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 766-774.
    16. Yang, Bo & Wei, Yi-Ming & Hou, Yunbing & Li, Hui & Wang, Pengtao, 2019. "Life cycle environmental impact assessment of fuel mix-based biomass co-firing plants with CO2 capture and storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Miedema, Jan H. & Benders, René M.J. & Moll, Henri C. & Pierie, Frank, 2017. "Renew, reduce or become more efficient? The climate contribution of biomass co-combustion in a coal-fired power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 873-885.
    18. Muth, D.J. & Bryden, K.M. & Nelson, R.G., 2013. "Sustainable agricultural residue removal for bioenergy: A spatially comprehensive US national assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 403-417.
    19. Chen, Wei-Hsin & Chen, Chih-Jung & Hung, Chen-I & Shen, Cheng-Hsien & Hsu, Heng-Wen, 2013. "A comparison of gasification phenomena among raw biomass, torrefied biomass and coal in an entrained-flow reactor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 421-430.
    20. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Pongrácz, Eva & Fabritius, Timo, 2013. "The potential of using biomass-based reducing agents in the blast furnace: A review of thermochemical conversion technologies and assessments related to sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 511-528.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:101:y:2013:i:c:p:237-243. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.