Methods of Handling the Cup Plant ( Silphium perfoliatum L.) for Energy Production

Kamil Witaszek, Marcin Herkowiak, Agnieszka A. Pilarska and Wojciech Czekała
Additional contact information
Kamil Witaszek: Department of Biosystems Engineering, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 50, 60-627 Poznań, Poland
Marcin Herkowiak: Institute of Technology and Life Sciences–National Research Institute, Falenty, Hrabska Avenue 3, 05-090 Raszyn, Poland
Agnieszka A. Pilarska: Department of Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering, Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul. Piątkowska 94A, 60-649 Poznań, Poland
Wojciech Czekała: Department of Biosystems Engineering, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 50, 60-627 Poznań, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: The aim of the study was to determine the possibilities of using cup plants ( Silphium perfoliatum L.) to generate energy. The energy balances of the combustion and anaerobic digestion were compared. The research showed that cup plants could be used as a raw material for solid fuel and for anaerobic digestion. An energy balance simulation showed that electricity could be generated through the anaerobic digestion of cup plants. The following amounts could be generated in the anaerobic digestion process: 1069 kWhe from 1 Mg of the raw material fragmented with an impact mill, 738.8 kWhe from 1 Mg of the raw material extruded at a temperature of 150 °C, and as much as 850.1 kWhe from 1 Mg of the raw material extruded at 175 °C. The energy balance of the combustion of biofuel in the form of cup plant pellets showed that 858.28 kWht could be generated from 1 Mg of the raw material. The combustion of solid biofuel generated a relatively low amount of heat in comparison with the expected amount of heat from a biogas-powered cogeneration system due to the high energy consumption of the processes of drying and agglomeration of the raw material for the production of pellets.

Keywords: pretreatment; energy balance; lignocellulosic biomass; anaerobic digestion; calorific value (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/5/1897/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/5/1897/ (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:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:5:p:1897-:d:764562

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

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