The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass

Hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) is an attractive biomass pre-treatment as it produces a coal-like fuel, can easily process wet biomass and wastes, and lowers the risk of slagging and fouling in pulverised fuel (PF) combustion boilers. One of the major factors in determining the suitability of a fue...

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Main Authors: Stirling, Robert J., Snape, Colin E., Meredith, Will
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51767/
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author Stirling, Robert J.
Snape, Colin E.
Meredith, Will
author_facet Stirling, Robert J.
Snape, Colin E.
Meredith, Will
author_sort Stirling, Robert J.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) is an attractive biomass pre-treatment as it produces a coal-like fuel, can easily process wet biomass and wastes, and lowers the risk of slagging and fouling in pulverised fuel (PF) combustion boilers. One of the major factors in determining the suitability of a fuel as a coal replacement for PF combustion is matching the char reactivity and volatile matter content to that of coals, as these significantly affect heat release and flame stability. The char reactivity of wood and olive cake biocoals and their respective drop tube furnace chars have been studied using thermogravimetric analysis in comparison to other biomass fuels and high-volatile bituminous coal. It was found that HTC reduces the reactivity of biomass, and in the case of HTC of wood pellets the resulting biocoal has a char reactivity similar to that of high-volatile bituminous coal. Proximate analysis, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and textural characterisation were used to show that this effect is caused primarily by removal of catalytic alkali and alkaline earth metals. Subsequent torrefaction of the wood biocoals was performed to tailor their volatile matter content to match that of sub-bituminous and high volatile bituminous coals without major impact on char reactivity.
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spelling nottingham-517672020-05-04T19:50:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51767/ The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass Stirling, Robert J. Snape, Colin E. Meredith, Will Hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) is an attractive biomass pre-treatment as it produces a coal-like fuel, can easily process wet biomass and wastes, and lowers the risk of slagging and fouling in pulverised fuel (PF) combustion boilers. One of the major factors in determining the suitability of a fuel as a coal replacement for PF combustion is matching the char reactivity and volatile matter content to that of coals, as these significantly affect heat release and flame stability. The char reactivity of wood and olive cake biocoals and their respective drop tube furnace chars have been studied using thermogravimetric analysis in comparison to other biomass fuels and high-volatile bituminous coal. It was found that HTC reduces the reactivity of biomass, and in the case of HTC of wood pellets the resulting biocoal has a char reactivity similar to that of high-volatile bituminous coal. Proximate analysis, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and textural characterisation were used to show that this effect is caused primarily by removal of catalytic alkali and alkaline earth metals. Subsequent torrefaction of the wood biocoals was performed to tailor their volatile matter content to match that of sub-bituminous and high volatile bituminous coals without major impact on char reactivity. Elsevier 2018-07 Article PeerReviewed Stirling, Robert J., Snape, Colin E. and Meredith, Will (2018) The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass. Fuel Processing Technology, 177 . pp. 152-158. ISSN 0378-3820 Biocoal; Biomass; Coal; Combustion; Hydrothermal carbonisation; Reactivity https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382018302479?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2018.04.023 doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2018.04.023
spellingShingle Biocoal; Biomass; Coal; Combustion; Hydrothermal carbonisation; Reactivity
Stirling, Robert J.
Snape, Colin E.
Meredith, Will
The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title_full The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title_fullStr The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title_full_unstemmed The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title_short The impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
title_sort impact of hydrothermal carbonisation on the char reactivity of biomass
topic Biocoal; Biomass; Coal; Combustion; Hydrothermal carbonisation; Reactivity
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51767/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51767/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51767/