Pyrolysis Characteristics of Undervalued Wood Varieties in the Portuguese Charcoal Sector

Felix Charvet, Felipe Silva, Luís Ruivo, Luís Tarelho, Arlindo Matos, José Figueiredo da Silva and Daniel Neves
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Felix Charvet: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Felipe Silva: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Luís Ruivo: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Luís Tarelho: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Arlindo Matos: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
José Figueiredo da Silva: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Daniel Neves: Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Charcoal production in Portugal is mostly based on the valorization of woody residues from cork oak and holm oak, the latter being considered a reference feedstock in the market. Nevertheless, since wildfire prevention became a priority in Portugal, after the recent dramatic wildfires, urgent actions are being conducted to reduce the fuel load in the forests, which is increasing the amount of biomass that is available for valorization. Additionally, biomass residues from agriculture, forest management, control of invasive species, partially burnt wood from post-fire recovery actions, and waste wood from storm devastated forests need also to be considered within the national biomass valorization policies. This has motivated the present work on whether the carbonization process can be used to valorize alternative woody biomasses not currently used on a large scale. For this purpose, slow pyrolysis experiments were carried out with ten types of wood, using a fixed bed reactor allowing the controlled heating of large fuel particles at 0.1 to 5 °C/min and final temperatures within 300–450 °C. Apart from an evaluation of the mass balance of the process, emphasis was given to the properties of the resulting charcoals considering its major market in Portugal—barbecue charcoal for both recreational and professional purposes.

Keywords: charcoal; biomass; woody residues; pyrolysis; carbonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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