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Product Characteristics of Torrefied Wood Sawdust in Normal and Vacuum Environments

Author

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  • Yi-Kai Chih

    (Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

  • Wei-Hsin Chen

    (Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411, Taiwan
    Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

  • Hwai Chyuan Ong

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Pau Loke Show

    (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan, Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia)

Abstract

To investigate the efficacy of torrefaction in a vacuum environment, wood sawdust was torrefied at various temperatures (200–300 °C) in different atmospheres (nitrogen and vacuum) with different residence times (30 and 60 min). It was found that the amount of biochar reduced at the same rate—regardless of atmosphere type—throughout the torrefaction process. In terms of energy density, the vacuum system produced biochar with better higher heating value (HHV, MJ/kg) than the nitrogen system below 250 °C. This was the case because the moisture and the high volatility compounds such as aldehydes diffused more easily in a vacuum. Over 250 °C, however, a greater amount of low volatility compounds evaded from the vacuum system, resulting in lower higher heating value in the biochar. Despite the mixed results with the solid products, the vacuum system increased the higher heating value of its liquid products more significantly than did the nitrogen system regardless of torrefaction temperature. It was found that 23% of the total energy output came from the liquid products in the vacuum system; the corresponding ratio was 19% in the nitrogen system. With liquid products contributing to a larger share of the total energy output, the vacuum system outperformed the nitrogen system in terms of energy density.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi-Kai Chih & Wei-Hsin Chen & Hwai Chyuan Ong & Pau Loke Show, 2019. "Product Characteristics of Torrefied Wood Sawdust in Normal and Vacuum Environments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:20:p:3844-:d:275328
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Adrian Knapczyk & Sławomir Francik & Marcin Jewiarz & Agnieszka Zawiślak & Renata Francik, 2020. "Thermal Treatment of Biomass: A Bibliometric Analysis—The Torrefaction Case," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-31, December.
    2. Joseph I. Orisaleye & Simeon O. Jekayinfa & Ralf Pecenka & Adebayo A. Ogundare & Michael O. Akinseloyin & Opeyemi L. Fadipe, 2022. "Investigation of the Effects of Torrefaction Temperature and Residence Time on the Fuel Quality of Corncobs in a Fixed-Bed Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Andrzej Bryś & Agnieszka Kaleta & Krzysztof Górnicki & Szymon Głowacki & Weronika Tulej & Joanna Bryś & Piotr Wichowski, 2021. "Some Aspects of the Modelling of Thin-Layer Drying of Sawdust," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, January.

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