Product Yields and Characteristics of Corncob Waste under Various Torrefaction Atmospheres

Jau-Jang Lu and Wei-Hsin Chen
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Jau-Jang Lu: Graduate Institute of Applied Living Science, Tainan University of Technology, Tainan 710, Taiwan
Wei-Hsin Chen: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

Energies, 2013, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Biomass is a promising energy source due to its abundant, carbon-fixing, and carbon-neutral properties. Torrefaction can be employed to improve the properties of biomass in an oxygen-free or nitrogen atmosphere. This study investigates the product yields and the solid product characteristics from corncob waste torrefaction at the temperatures of 250 °C and 300 °C for 1 h. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and a gas mixture of air and carbon dioxide are employed as the carrier gases. The solid product characteristics approach those of coal at the higher temperature, regardless of what the carrier gases are. The fixed carbon, higher heating value, and solid and energy yields using carbon dioxide as a carrier gas at 300 °C are close to those using nitrogen. The product safety and storage properties before and after torrefaction are revealed by the measurements of ignition temperature and hygroscopicity. A higher torrefaction temperature leads to a higher ignition temperature of treated biomass, except using the mixture of air and carbon dioxide as the carrier gas. Carbon dioxide is a better carrier gas than nitrogen for biomass torrefaction, from the storage and transportation points of view.

Keywords: torrefaction; atmosphere; biomass and corncob waste; ignition temperature; hygroscopicity; product yield (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: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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