Abstract
The search for different forms of biomass that can be used as an alternative to those more traditional ones has faced numerous difficulties, namely those related to disadvantages that the majority of residual forms present. However, these residual forms of biomass also have advantages, namely the fact that, by being outside the usual biomass supply chains for energy, they are usually much cheaper, and therefore contribute to a significant reduction in production costs. To improve the less-favorable properties of these biomasses, thermochemical conversion technologies, namely torrefaction, are presented as a way to improve the combustibility of these materials. However, it is a technology that has not yet demonstrated its full potential, mainly due to difficulties in the process of scale-up and process control. In this article it is intended to present the experience obtained over 5 years in the operation of a biomass torrefaction plant with an industrial pilot scale, where all the difficulties encountered and how they were corrected are presented, until it became a fully operational plant. This article, in which a real case study is analyzed, presents in a descriptive way all the work done during the time from when the plant started up and during the commissioning period until the state of continuous operation had been reached.
Highlights
The incessant search for new forms of energy that can replace the use of non-renewable sources of fossil origin by renewable sources led to an increase in the number of technical studies and fundamental research, mainly related to the possibility of reproducing natural processes, which are in the origin of different forms of fossil energy, such as coal, oil or natural gas, since the entire global energy system is based on the conversion and use of these fossil forms [1–4]
From the analysis of the cases described in the previous sections, it is possible to understand the main problems associated with increasing the scale of the biomass torrefaction units, namely those associated with the production of torrefied biomass pellets
It is the combination of these two factors that will determine the success or failure of the process, so it is essential, before any other corrective measure, to know exactly all the conditions and specificities related to biomass torrefaction, in order to be able to define correctly the torrefaction concept itself
Summary
The incessant search for new forms of energy that can replace the use of non-renewable sources of fossil origin by renewable sources led to an increase in the number of technical studies and fundamental research, mainly related to the possibility of reproducing natural processes, which are in the origin of different forms of fossil energy, such as coal, oil or natural gas, since the entire global energy system is based on the conversion and use of these fossil forms [1–4]. Guidelines for many research and development projects related to energy conversion have been launched, among which biomass is already playing a very important role, as it is the form of energy that makes it possible to meet the global energy needs, based on liquid and gaseous fuels for mobility, and solid fuels for the production of electricity, usually static, and for the production of industrial thermal energy [5–8]. Biomass makes it possible to compensate the intermittency associated with the production of energy through renewable sources, namely the forms that are associated with meteorological elements, such as solar, wind or water, because, depending directly on the weather conditions these may or may not allow energy production. It is necessary to have a form of back-up production that, if required, can ensure the continuity of the energy supply service [4,9–11]
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