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Biomass and Waste Conversion Technology
MEP 414 Dr. Mostafa Abdelkhalek Biomass Characterization Lecture Two Importance of Biomass Characterization
• The characteristics of biomass greatly
influence the performance of a biomass conversion system whether it is 1. Combustor 2. Torrefier 3. Pyrolyzer 4. Gasifier TORREFACTION • A thermochemical process in an inert or limited oxygen environment where biomass is slowly heated to within a specified temperature range and retained there for a specified time such that it results in near complete degradation of its hemicellulose content while maximizing mass and energy yield of solid product. • Typical temperature range for this process is between 200C and 300C. Pyrolysis • Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of biomass into a range of useful products, either in the total absence of oxidizing agents or with a limited supply that does not permit gasification to an appreciable extent. • It also forms several initial reaction steps of gasification. • During pyrolysis, large complex hydrocarbon molecules of biomass break down into relatively smaller and simpler molecules of gas, liquid, and char • Pyrolysis of biomass is typically carried out in a temperature range of 300 - 650C compared to 800 - 1000C for gasification and 200 - 300C for torrefaction. Gasification • Gasification is the conversion of solid or liquid feedstock into useful and convenient gaseous fuel or chemical feedstock that can be burned to release energy or used for production of value-added chemicals • Gasification is a process that converts organic- or fossil fuel- based carbonaceous materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. • This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures (>700 °C), without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam. • The resulting gas mixture is called syngas (from synthesis gas) or producer gas and is itself a fuel. Physical Properties • Permeability • Densities Densities • Density is an important design parameter for any biomass conversion system. • For a granular biomass, we can define four characteristic densities: 1. True Density 2. Apparent Density 3. Bulk Density 4. Biomass (Growth) Density True Density • True density is the weight per unit volume occupied by the solid constituent of biomass. • Total weight is divided by actual volume of the solid content to give its true density. Apparent Density • The apparent density considers the internal pores of a biomass particle but not the interstitial volume between biomass particles packed together.
The pore volume of a biomass expressed as a fraction of its total
volume is known as its porosity, εp. This is an important characteristic of the biomass. Bulk Density • Bulk density is based on the overall space occupied by an amount or a group of biomass particles. • Bulk volume includes interstitial volume between the particles, and as such it depends on how the biomass is packed. Bulk Density • The total mass of the biomass may contain the green moisture of a living plant, external moisture collected in storage, and moisture inherent in the biomass. • Once the biomass is dried in a standard oven, its mass reduces. • Thus, the density can be based on either green or oven-dry depending on if its weight includes surface moisture. Biomass (Growth) Density • The total amount of above-ground living organic matter in trees expressed as oven-dry tons per unit area (e.g., tons per hectare) and includes all organic materials: leaves, twigs, branches, main bole, bark, and trees. Permeability • Property of a material that lets fluids (such as water or water vapor) to diffuse through it to another medium without being chemically or physically affected. • Permeability is an important factor in pyrolysis. • High permeability allows pyrolysis gases to be trapped in the pores, increasing their residence time in the reaction zone. Thermodynamic Properties • Thermal Conductivity • Specific Heat • Heat of Formation • Heat of Combustion (Reaction) • Heating Value • Ignition Temperature Thermal Conductivity • Biomass particles are subject to heat conduction along and across their fiber, which in turn influences their pyrolysis behavior. • Thus, the thermal conductivity of the biomass is an important parameter in this context. • It changes with density and moisture
where sp.gr is the specific gravity of the fuel and md is the
moisture percentage of the biomass on a dry basis (db). Thermal Conductivity • Unlike metal and other solids, biomass is highly anisotropic. • The thermal conductivity along fibers of biomass is different from that across them. • Conductivity also depends on the biomass’ moisture content, porosity, and temperature. • Some of these depend on the degree of conversion as the biomass undergoes combustion or gasification. Anisotropic Substances • What are anisotropic substances? • When the properties of a material vary with different crystallographic orientations, the material is said to be anisotropic. • Alternately, when the properties of a material are the same in all directions, the material is said to be isotropic. Thermal Conductivity Specific Heat • Specific heat is an important thermodynamic property of biomass often required for thermodynamic calculations. • It is an indication of the heat capacity of a substance. • Both moisture and temperature affect the specific heat of biomass, but density or wood species do not have much effect on the specific heat. • The specific heat changes much with temperature. • It also depends to some extent on the type and source of biomass. • It also shows that bark of the wood has higher specific heat than its hearth wood. • Char produced from this wood has interestingly much lower specific heat. Specific Heat Specific Heat Heat of Formation • Heat of formation, also known as enthalpy of formation, is the enthalpy change when 1 mol of compound is formed at standard state (25C, 1 atm) from its constituting elements in their standard state. Heat of Formation Heat of Combustion (Reaction) • The heat of reaction (HR) is the amount of heat released or absorbed in a chemical reaction with no change in temperature. In the context of combustion reactions, HR is called heat of combustion, ΔH comb, which can be calculated from the heat of formation (HF) as • Q= Hp – HR Example • Q= Hp – HR • Q = - 476 kJ/mol • Hp= HFCO2 + 0.675 HFH2O = - 393.5 - 0.6753 (-241.5) • HR= HFsw +1.029HFO2 = HFsw + 1.029 x 0 • Then HFsw = - 80.5 kJ/mol Heating Value • The heating value of biomass is the amount of energy biomass releases when it is completely burnt in adequate oxygen. • It is one of the most important properties of biomass as far as energy conversion is concerned. • Compared to most fossil fuels, the heating value of biomass is low, especially on a volume basis, because its density is very low and it is high oxygen containing fuel. Higher Heating Value (HHV) • It is defined as the amount of heat released by the unit mass or volume of fuel (initially at 25C) once it is combusted and the products have returned to a temperature of 25C. • It includes the latent heat of vaporization of water. • HHV is also called gross calorific value. • In North America, the thermal efficiency of a system is usually expressed in terms of HHV, so it is important to know the HHV of the design fuel. Lower Heating Value (LHV) • The lower heating value (LHV), also known as the net calorific value, is defined as the amount of heat released by fully combusting a specified quantity less the heat of vaporization of the water in the combustion product. • The relationship between HHV and LHV is given by
where LHV, HHV, H, and M are lower heating value, higher
heating value, hydrogen percentage, and moisture percentage, respectively, on an “ar” basis. Here, hg is the latent heat of steam in the same units as HHV. The latent heat of vaporization when the reference temperature is 100C is 2260 kJ/kg. Lower Heating Value (LHV) • Many European countries define the efficiency of a thermal system in terms of LHV. • Thus, an efficiency expressed in this way appears higher than that expressed in HHV (as is the norm in many countries, including the United States and Canada), unless the basis is specified. Ignition Temperature • Ignition temperature is an important property of any fuel because the combustion reaction of the fuel becomes self-sustaining only above this temperature. • In a typical gasifier, a certain amount of combustion is necessary to provide the energy required for drying and pyrolysis and finally for the endothermic gasification reaction. • In torrefier, temperature of cooled product should be lower than its ignition temperature. Ignition Temperature • When the fuel is heated by some external means, the rate of exothermic reaction increases with a corresponding increase in the heat generation rate. • Above a certain temperature, the rate of heat generation matches or exceeds the rate of heat loss. • When this happens, the process becomes self- sustaining and that minimum temperature is called the ignition temperature. Ignition Temperature