Abstract
Biomass pellets provide a pivotal opportunity in promising energy transition scenarios as a renewable source of energy. A large share of the current utilization of pellets is facilitated by intensive global trade operations. Considering the long distance between the production site and the end-user locations, pellets may face fluctuating storage conditions, resulting in their physical and chemical degradation. We tested the effect of different storage conditions, from freezing temperatures (−19 °C) to high temperature (40 °C) and humidity conditions (85% relative humidity), on the physicochemical properties of untreated and torrefied biomass pellets. Moreover, the effect of sudden changes in the storage conditions on pellet properties was studied by moving the pellets from the freezing to the high temperature and relative humidity conditions and vice versa. The results show that, although storage at one controlled temperature and RH may degrade the pellets, a change in the temperature and relative humidity results in higher degradation in terms of higher moisture uptake and lower mechanical strength.
Highlights
Biomass has shown a great potential to meet a significant share of the energy demand in the near future, as one of the main sources of renewable energy [1]
This paper studies the influence of a wide range of controlled storage conditions on the equilibrium moisture content (EMC), higher heating values (HHV), and mechanical durability of raw wood and torrefied biomass pellets in bulk
Results for the EMC ratio indicate that all pellets are already saturated after 7 days, except for T5_RH86 for all pellets, T20_RH65 in the cases of brown pellets, and T40_RH85 in the case of white pellets
Summary
Biomass has shown a great potential to meet a significant share of the energy demand in the near future, as one of the main sources of renewable energy [1]. In 2018, up to 10% of the total world energy demand was provided by biomass [2], while it has been estimated that up to 18% of the world’s primary energy demand can be provided only by woody biomass in 2050 [1]. The huge increase in the use of biomass, in particular solid biomass, has raised concerns regarding its transport, storage, and handling, due to its inherent low bulk and energy density and high moisture content [3]. The combination of torrefaction and densification is proved to increase the bulk and energy density and decrease the moisture content of raw biomass [4]. Pelletization is a type of densification process, in which biomass is compressed into cylindrical holes, and it produces pellets with a typical
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