Abstract
Although the main purpose of the torrefaction of biomass is to produce high quality solid bio-fuel, the by-products, including liquid and gas products, are worth investigating to know their effects on the environment and the reusable possibility. Consequently, after torrefying waste bamboo chopsticks (WBCs) for producing solid bio-fuel, the liquid and gas products were examined in this study. The torrefaction target was set to produce torrefied waste bamboo chopsticks (WBCT) retaining about 70 wt %. A proper torrefaction temperature (Tr) and torrefaction time (tr) were found at 563 K and 40 min, respectively, for carrying out the torrefaction in a tubular furnace with carrier nitrogen. These conditions gave a solid yield (YS) of 69 wt % of WBCT relative to the original WBC, and 31 wt % of by-products were produced. The liquid products were composed of water as high as 62 wt %, along with some organic acids. Some medicine components were also found in the liquid products, representing potential medicine applications. During torrefaction, CO, NOx, SO2, and CO2 emissions were largely discharged from 10 to 20 min of torrefaction time. O2, CO2, and H2O are the major compounds in the total gas products collected. Some combustible gases of C1 to C6 hydrocarbons were also produced. Moreover, the gas volume balances were computed and evaluated. The information obtained in this study is useful for the proper design, operation, pollution control, and utilization of the products.
Highlights
Torrefaction is a feasible method to convert biomass into high quality solid bio-fuel, and the advantages, application, and future trend of biomass torrefaction have been presented by several review papers [1,2,3,4]
After the process of torrefying waste bamboo chopsticks (WBCs) at 563 K (290 ◦ C) and 40 min was finished, masses of the torrefied solid product waste bamboo chopsticks (WBCT), liquid product, and gas product produced through the process were collected
The results indicate that non-hydrocarbons (NHC) are the main concentration (CVGNi ) of each component in volume of the output gas including N2 (VG+N), the individual gas volume (VGi ) could be counted
Summary
Torrefaction is a feasible method to convert biomass into high quality solid bio-fuel, and the advantages, application, and future trend of biomass torrefaction have been presented by several review papers [1,2,3,4]. Biomass is transformed into solid, liquid, and gas parts. The components of the products of torrefaction may be different when employing different biomasses, torrefaction temperatures (Tr ), and torrefaction times (tr ), and typical components were reported by Bergman et al [5]. The solid phase, regarded as bio-fuel, is comprised of a chaotic structure of the original sugar structures and modified sugar structures, newly formed polymeric structures including aromatic rings, and the ash. The liquid phase is composed of water, organics (sugars, polysugars, acids, alcohols, furans, ketones), and lipids (terpenes, phenols, fatty acids, waxes, tanins), and is collected by condensing in room temperature. On the basis of references [6,7], the liquid product produced by the pyrolysis of biomass is composed of acid components, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, and so on
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