Abstract
In this work, a novel biomass, the extraction residue of Sapindus pericarp (SP), was torrefied by using an electronic oven under a wide range of temperature (i.e., 200–320 °C) and residence times (i.e., 0–60 min). From the results of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of SP, a significant weight loss was observed in the temperature range of 200–400 °C, which can be divided into the decompositions of hemicellulose (major)/lignin (minor) (200–320 °C) and cellulose (major)/lignin (minor) (320–400 °C). Based on the fuel properties of the feedstock SP and SP-torrefied products, the optimal torrefaction conditions can be found at around 280 °C for holding 30 min, showing that the calorific value, enhancement factor and energy yield of the torrefied biomass were enhanced to be 28.60 MJ/kg, 1.36 and 82.04 wt%, respectively. Consistently, the values of the calorific value, carbon content and molar carbon/hydrogen (C/H) ratio indicated an increasing trend at higher torrefaction temperatures and/or longer residence times. The findings showed that some SP-torrefied solids can be grouped into the characteristics of a lignite-like biomass by a van Krevelen diagram for all the SP-torrefied products. However, the SP-torrefied fuels would be particularly susceptible to the problems of slagging and fouling because of the relatively high contents of potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) based on the analytical results of the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).
Highlights
Published: 1 November 2021In order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the existing fossil fuel plants, biomass has been used either as a solid fuel directly or as a supplement to fossil fuels
The calorific value determined by this work was 20.97 ± 1.89 MJ/kg in comparison with that (20.93 MJ/kg) by Zhang et al [17]
Taiwan), was pretreated conditions, a dried Sapindus pericarp (SP) was performed under various temperatures (200–320by dence times (i.e., 0–60 min)
Summary
Published: 1 November 2021In order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) from the existing fossil fuel plants, biomass has been used either as a solid fuel directly or as a supplement to fossil fuels. Among the lignocellulosic constituents (i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) in biomass, the hemicellulose constituent has the highest moisture absorption capacity [2]. In this regard, a pretreatment process, known as torrefaction, was extensively studied to produce a torrefied biomass for further use in the energy, metallurgical and chemical fields instead of direct use in its original form [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. To maximize the energy density and mass yield of biomass by reducing the contents of noncarbon elements, the typical temperature range for the torrefaction process is between
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