Characterization and Life Cycle Exergo-Environmental Analysis of Wood Pellet Biofuel Produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Ahmad Rashedi, Irfan Ullah Muhammadi, Rana Hadi, Syeda Ghufrana Nadeem, Nasreen Khan, Farzana Ibrahim, Mohamad Zaki Hassan, Rasheda Khanam, Byongug Jeong and Majid Hussain
Additional contact information
Ahmad Rashedi: College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia
Irfan Ullah Muhammadi: Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Haripur 22620, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Rana Hadi: Department of Zoology, Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad, Karachi 74600, Sindh, Pakistan
Syeda Ghufrana Nadeem: Department of Microbiology, Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad, Karachi 74600, Sindh, Pakistan
Nasreen Khan: Department of Zoology, Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad, Karachi 74600, Sindh, Pakistan
Farzana Ibrahim: Department of Zoology, Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad, Karachi 74600, Sindh, Pakistan
Mohamad Zaki Hassan: Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Level 7 Menara Razak, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
Byongug Jeong: Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, University of Strathclyde, 100 Montrose Street, Glasgow G4 0LZ, UK
Majid Hussain: Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Haripur 22620, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: Major objectives of this study were to produce low-emitting wood pellet biofuel from selected agro-forest tree species, i.e., Kikar ( Acacia nilotica ), Oak ( Quercus semicarpifolia ), and Mesquite ( Prosopis juliflora ), grown in the southern part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan using indigenously developed technology (pelletizer machine). Primary raw material, such as sawdust of the selected agro-forest tree species, was obtained from sawmills located in southern part of KP. Life cycle inventory (LCI) was sourced for entire production chain of the wood pellet biofuel by measuring quantities of various inputs consumed and output produced. In addition, the wood pellets were characterized to examine diameter, length, moisture content, ash content, bulk density, high heating value (HHV), low heating value (LHV), as well as nitrogen and sulphur contents. A comprehensive life cycle assessment was performed for wood pellet biofuel production chain using SimaPro v9.1 software. A functional unit of one (01) kilogram (kg) wood pellet biofuel was applied following a gate-to-gate approach. The results of the present study were in accordance with the recommended Italian standard CTI-R 04 / 5 except for pellet bulk density and nitrogen content. The bulk density for all wood pellets, manufactured from the saw dust of three different agro-forest tree species, were lower than the recommended Italian standard, while for nitrogen content, the results were higher than the recommended Italian standard. Among the environmental impacts, Kikar ( Acacia nilotica) wood pellets were the major contributor to fossil fuel depletion, followed by ecotoxicity, mineral depletion and acidification/eutrophication. This was primarily due to lubricating oil and urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin used as inputs in the wood pellets biofuel manufacture. Likewise, human health and ecosystem quality was also affected by lubricating oil, UF resin, and saw dust, respectively. In cumulative exergy demand of 1 kg wood pellets biofuel, the highest impact was from Kikar wood pellets for non-renewable fossils, mainly due to lubricating oil used. Difference in environmental impacts, damage assessment, and exergy were examined in three different scenarios for major hotspot inputs by reducing 20% lubricating oil in case 1, 20% UF resin in case 2, and without usage of UF resin in case 3, while marked reduction was observed in ecotoxicity, fossil fuel, and mineral depletion, as well as acidification/eutrophication impact category. Moreover, a pronounced reduction was also noted in the non-renewable fossil fuel category of cumulative exergy demand of one kg of wood pellets biofuel produced.

Keywords: wood pellets; biofuel; environmental impacts; characterization; exergy; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2082/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2082/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:2082-:d:747368

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().