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Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 20802

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luis Fernando Calvo Prieto

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Guest Editor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Physics, University of Leon, 24071 León, Spain
Interests: biomass; crops; energy; wastes; wastewater

Dr. Sergio Paniagua Bermejo

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Guest Editor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Physics, University of Leon, 24071 León, Spain
Interests: thermal analysis; biomass; thermogravimetry; microalgae; energy crop

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

You are kindly invited to submit a paper for a Special Issue on “Thermal Analysis of the Biomass Energy Production Process”.

Energy can be considered as the beginning of human lives from a holistic point of view. However, our energy conventional systems, based on fosil fuels, have two serious problems, namely: they are not infinite, and they also have serious environmental impacts. It is expected that the great energy revolution (based on the use of hydrogen) will be reached, not before one hundred years. Thus, new energy sources must be used before this . Biomass can be one of the most important options for this change. Nevertheless, this energy source requires great knowledge from the scientific community. This Special Issue will explore the following topics: (a) how energy can be obtained from different biomass sources, (b) how is the thermal behavior of these biomasses stuided by their thermal analysis, and (c) how can we optimice the different energy production processes.

This Special Issue addresses cross-cutting issues across a range of several sectors, such as biomass generation; organic wastes from urban services, agriculture, indusry, and households; and energy generation—all of them from the point of view of the thermal analysis, modeling, and transformations of biomasses as energy sources.

The Special Issue welcomes both qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as empirical and theoretical contributions.

Prof. Dr. Luis Fernando Calvo Prieto
Dr. Sergio Paniagua Bermejo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Biomass
Energy production
Modeling
Thermal analysis

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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29 pages, 12900 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Phenomenological Model of a Downdraft Biomass Gasifier Flexible to the Feedstock Composition and the Reactor Design

by Michela Costa, Maurizio La Villetta, Daniele Piazzullo and Domenico Cirillo

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4226; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144226 - 13 Jul 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2369

Abstract

The development of a one-dimensional (1D) phenomenological model for biomass gasification in downdraft reactors is presented in this study; the model was developed with the aim of highlighting the main advantages and limits related to feedstocks that are different from woodchip, such as hydro-char derived from the hydrothermal carbonization of green waste, or a mix of olive pomace and sawdust. An experimental validation of the model is performed. The numerically evaluated temperature evolution along the reactor gasifier is found to be in agreement with locally measured values for all the considered biomasses. The model captures the pressure drop along the reactor axis, despite an underestimation with respect to the performed measurements. The producer gas composition resulting from the numerical model at the exit section is in quite good agreement with gas-chromatograph analyses (12% maximum error for CO and CO₂ species), although the model predicts lower methane and hydrogen content in the syngas than the measurements show. Parametric analyses highlight that lower degrees of porosity enhance the pressure drop along the reactor axis, moving the zones characterized by the occurrence of the combustion and gasification phases towards the bottom. An increase in the biomass moisture content is associated with a delayed evolution of the temperature profile. The high energy expenditure in the evaporation phase occurs at the expense of the produced hydrogen and methane in the subsequent phases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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15 pages, 1125 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Cow Dung Pellets as a Renewable Solid Fuel in Direct Combustion Technologies

by Aneta Szymajda, Grażyna Łaska and Magdalena Joka

Energies 2021, 14(4), 1192; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041192 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6946

Abstract

Recently, biomass application as a renewable energy source is increasing worldwide. However, its availability differs in dependence on the location and climate, therefore, agricultural residues as cow dung (CD) are being considered to supply heat and/or power installation. This paper aims at a wide evaluation of CD fuel properties and its prospect to apply in the form of pellets to direct combustion installations. Therefore, the proximate, ultimate composition and calorific value were analyzed, then pelletization and combustion tests were performed, and the ash characteristics were tested. It was found that CD is a promising source of bioenergy in terms of LHV (16.34 MJ·kg⁻¹), carbon (44.24%), and fixed carbon (18.33%) content. During pelletization, CD showed high compaction properties and at a moisture content of 18%,and the received pellets’ bulk density reached ca. 470 kg·m⁻³ with kinetic durability of 98.7%. While combustion, in a fixed grate 25 kW boiler, high emissions of CO, SO₂, NO, and HCl were observed. The future energy sector might be based on biomass and this work shows a novel approach of CD pellets as a potential source of renewable energy available wherever cattle production is located. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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17 pages, 1242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Varieties and Organic Fertilizer in the Elaboration of a New Poplar-Straw Pellet and Its Emissions in a Domestic Boiler

by Sergio Paniagua, Alba Prado-Guerra, Ana Isabel Neto, Teresa Nunes, Luís Tarelho, Célia Alves and Luis Fernando Calvo

Energies 2020, 13(23), 6332; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236332 - 30 Nov 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1872

Abstract

Pollutants resulting from domestic combustion would have harmful effects on public health, causing disturbances in the atmosphere chemistry and the climate. In this work, the emissions from the combustion of pellets made of 80% poplar (organically fertilized) and 20% cereal straw (Triticum aestivum) have been analysed. Poplar wood from I-214 and AF-8 clones was obtained from fertilized and non-fertilized plots (CONTROL). Dairy wastewater treatment (MUD) and dehydrated sewage sludge (BIOSOLIDS) were the fertilizers employed. BIOSOLIDS-I214 pellets had lower quality standards, so its combustion was omitted. A flue gas sample was sampled together with the particles emitted. The I-214 MUD sample had the highest emitted CO value (1505 mg/MJ). Regarding HCl emission factors, there was a homogeneity in the results linked with the Cl content present in the raw material. A higher particle emission was associated with pellets with higher ash content. Particles were composed mainly for elemental carbon (26–80 mg/MJ), except I-214 MUD. I-214 pellets had the indicators of incomplete combustion and, therefore, major contaminants emission and major environmental impact. Thus, both the poplar clone and the organic fertilizer influenced the parameters and emissions analysed. Therefore, special attention must be paid to both characteristics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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10 pages, 1735 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Influence of Phenethyl Acetate and Naphthalene Addition before and after Pyrolysis on the Quantitative Analysis of Bio-Oil

by Xuyan Song, Min Wei, Qiang Gao, Xi Pan, Junpeng Yang, Fan Wu and Hongyun Hu

Energies 2020, 13(23), 6202; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236202 - 25 Nov 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1805

Abstract

The condensation-collection and quantitative analysis of bio-oil limit its component investigation and utilization. In order to find a convenient method for the analysis of bio-oil, the present study conducted an attempt for bio-oil quantitative analysis with the addition of internal standards before pyrolysis. Based on their good thermal stability, phenethyl acetate and naphthalene were selected as standards in the study and experiments were carried out to compare the effects of two added modes (adding into the biowaste before pyrolysis or adding into bio-oil after pyrolysis) on the bio-oil analysis. The results showed that both phenethyl acetate and naphthalene were mainly volatilized under testing conditions, which could be transferred into the oil with the volatile matters during biowaste pyrolysis. Through the co-pyrolysis experiments of the internal standards with lignin and cellulose, almost no interactions were found between the internal standards and such components. Furthermore, adding these standards before pyrolysis hardly affected the properties of noncondensable gas and biochar from the used biowaste samples (tobacco and sawdust waste). Compared with the bio-oil analysis results via traditional methods by adding standards into the bio-oil after pyrolysis, the results regarding the component distribution characteristics of the bio-oil were similar using the proposed method through the addition of standards before pyrolysis. Considering adequate mixing of the added standards (before pyrolysis) in the generated bio-oil, the proposed method could partly help to avoid inaccurate analysis of bio-oil components caused by incomplete collection of the pyrolytic volatiles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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13 pages, 1794 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Correlation between Combustion Products in Biomass Thermal Power Plant Using Association Rule Mining

by Saša Igić, Dragana Bošković, Barbara Vujkov, Nemanja Igić, Todor Janić, Dalibor Jeličić, Vladica Ristić and Boris Dumnić

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5532; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215532 - 22 Oct 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2018

Abstract

The biomass combustion process is inevitably accompanied by the emission of pollutant gasses. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of the external variables and combustion products of the biomass plant. The analyzed data were collected from 18 MWt boiler in combined heat and power plant Sremska Mitrovica over a period of four months. The correlations between the recorded data were determined using a unique methodology, which is based on association rule mining. The results of the study can be further used for the reduction of the harmful combustion products, as well as for the optimization of the operation process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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Review

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33 pages, 13074 KiB

Open AccessReview

Solar Thermochemical Green Fuels Production: A Review of Biomass Pyro-Gasification, Solar Reactor Concepts and Modelling Methods

by Stéphane Abanades, Sylvain Rodat and Houssame Boujjat

Energies 2021, 14(5), 1494; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14051494 - 9 Mar 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4805

Abstract

This paper addresses the solar thermochemical conversion of biomass or waste feedstocks based on pyro-gasification for the clean production of high-value and energy-intensive fuels. The utilization of solar energy for supplying the required process heat is attractive to lower the dependence of gasification processes on conventional energy resources and to reduce emissions of CO₂ and other pollutants for the production of high-value chemical synthetic fuels (syngas). Using concentrated solar energy to drive the endothermal reactions further allows producing more syngas with a higher gas quality, since it has not been contaminated by combustion products, while saving biomass resources. The solar-driven process is thus a sustainable and promising alternative route, enabling syngas yield enhancement and CO₂ mitigation, thereby potentially outperforming the performance of conventional processes for syngas production. This review presents relevant research studies in the field and provides the scientific/technical knowledge and background necessary to address the different aspects of the solar gasification process. An overview of the available solar concentrating technologies and their performance metrics is first introduced. The solar gasifier concepts and designs that were studied from lab to industrial scale are presented, along with their main benefits and limitations. The different management strategies proposed to deal with solar energy variations are also outlined, as well as the major pilot-scale applications and large-scale system level simulations. A specific emphasis is provided on the spouted bed technology that appears promising for the gasification process. Finally, the main modeling approaches of pyro-gasification and kinetics for simulation of gasifiers are described. This study thus provides a detailed overview of the efforts made to enhance the thermochemical performance of solar-assisted biomass gasification for synthetic fuel production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Analysis of Biomass Energy Production Process)

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