Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design

The production of bio-oils from microwave pyrolysis has received increasing attention from bioenergy researchers, but no studies reported to date have proposed reliable solutions to avoid thermal runaway. The motivation of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a systematic methodology to exploit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Adam, Mohamed, Beneroso, Daniel, Katrib, Juliano, Kingman, Sam, Robinson, John P.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42884/
_version_ 1848796592886251520
author Adam, Mohamed
Beneroso, Daniel
Katrib, Juliano
Kingman, Sam
Robinson, John P.
author_facet Adam, Mohamed
Beneroso, Daniel
Katrib, Juliano
Kingman, Sam
Robinson, John P.
author_sort Adam, Mohamed
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The production of bio-oils from microwave pyrolysis has received increasing attention from bioenergy researchers, but no studies reported to date have proposed reliable solutions to avoid thermal runaway. The motivation of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a systematic methodology to exploit the benefits of microwave heating for biomass pyrolysis, and to overcome previously reported challenges of heating heterogeneity and thermal runaway. The multidisciplinary design methodology for a microwave fluidized bed system is presented, which is based on processing raw biomass without the need for added microwave susceptors. The design process considers the minimum fluidizing velocity of biomass particles, a heat-transfer model to establish the power density requirements, and electromagnetic simulations to determine the optimal dimensions. It was found that a minimum power density of 54 MW m−3 was necessary to reach temperatures of 400 °C for particles with an average size of 600 µm at the minimum fluidization velocity (0.38 m s−1). Higher gas velocities required higher power levels; however, the energy efficiency of the process could be improved when using a high power at low gas velocities, with 1.07 kJ g−1 attainable at power densities in excess of 100 MW m−3. A microwave fluidized bed system was subsequently designed, and shown to be effective in enabling pyrolysis whilst limiting heterogeneity and thermal runaway effects. Thermal runaway could be controlled by ensuring an appropriate fluidization regime to prevent liquid condensation and solid deposition within areas of high electric field intensity. The developed design opens opportunities for large-scale production of bio-oil using microwaves.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:50:26Z
format Article
id nottingham-42884
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:50:26Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Wiley
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-428842020-04-29T15:44:19Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42884/ Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design Adam, Mohamed Beneroso, Daniel Katrib, Juliano Kingman, Sam Robinson, John P. The production of bio-oils from microwave pyrolysis has received increasing attention from bioenergy researchers, but no studies reported to date have proposed reliable solutions to avoid thermal runaway. The motivation of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a systematic methodology to exploit the benefits of microwave heating for biomass pyrolysis, and to overcome previously reported challenges of heating heterogeneity and thermal runaway. The multidisciplinary design methodology for a microwave fluidized bed system is presented, which is based on processing raw biomass without the need for added microwave susceptors. The design process considers the minimum fluidizing velocity of biomass particles, a heat-transfer model to establish the power density requirements, and electromagnetic simulations to determine the optimal dimensions. It was found that a minimum power density of 54 MW m−3 was necessary to reach temperatures of 400 °C for particles with an average size of 600 µm at the minimum fluidization velocity (0.38 m s−1). Higher gas velocities required higher power levels; however, the energy efficiency of the process could be improved when using a high power at low gas velocities, with 1.07 kJ g−1 attainable at power densities in excess of 100 MW m−3. A microwave fluidized bed system was subsequently designed, and shown to be effective in enabling pyrolysis whilst limiting heterogeneity and thermal runaway effects. Thermal runaway could be controlled by ensuring an appropriate fluidization regime to prevent liquid condensation and solid deposition within areas of high electric field intensity. The developed design opens opportunities for large-scale production of bio-oil using microwaves. Wiley 2017-05-16 Article PeerReviewed Adam, Mohamed, Beneroso, Daniel, Katrib, Juliano, Kingman, Sam and Robinson, John P. (2017) Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining . ISSN 1932-1031 Microwave pyrolysis; Bio-oil production; Biomass fluidization; Microwave scale-up http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bbb.1780/full doi:10.1002/bbb.1780 doi:10.1002/bbb.1780
spellingShingle Microwave pyrolysis; Bio-oil production; Biomass fluidization; Microwave scale-up
Adam, Mohamed
Beneroso, Daniel
Katrib, Juliano
Kingman, Sam
Robinson, John P.
Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title_full Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title_fullStr Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title_full_unstemmed Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title_short Microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. Part I: Process design
title_sort microwave fluidized bed for biomass pyrolysis. part i: process design
topic Microwave pyrolysis; Bio-oil production; Biomass fluidization; Microwave scale-up
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42884/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42884/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42884/