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Effect of operation conditions on fuel characteristics of hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization of agroforestry biomass

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Abstract

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of agroforestry biomass involving poplar wood (PW) and corn stalk (CS) was carried out in a multifunction reactor. The effects of reaction temperature, holding time, and initial pressure on the evolution of proximate analysis parameters, element composition, mass yield, energy yield, and major chemical components in both hydrochars were analyzed. The obtained results indicated that hydrothermal carbonization has a significant influence on the fuel properties of hydrochars. The impact of HTC operating parameters is ordered as reaction temperature >  > holding time > initial pressure, and high initial pressure is helpful for the acceleration of the reaction rate of the HTC process. As reaction temperature increases from 180 to 260 °C, there is a significant decrease in volatile matter, mass yield, energy yield, atomic ratios of H/C and O/C, and element yield efficiency of hydrochars, but an obvious increase in fixed carbon, higher heating value, and energy enhancement factor of hydrochars. The hemicellulose decomposition coefficients of CS and PW hydrochars reach 62.7–68.4% at 180 °C and gradually stabilize at approximately 93% and 75% while reaction temperature is larger than 220 °C. The corresponding cellulose decomposition coefficients are relatively low at 180 °C, followed by a rapid increase, and achieve the maximum of 92.1–94.2% at 260 °C. The thermal sensitivity of agricultural biomass is stronger than that of forestry biomass as the severity of HTC treatment, and an optimal HTC operation parameter should be adopted to improve fuel performances of agroforestry.

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Abbreviations

HTC:

Hydrothermal carbonization

PW:

Poplar wood

CS:

Corn stalk

HHV:

Higher heating value

VM:

Volatile matter

FC:

Fixed carbon

M:

Moisture

A:

Ash

NDF:

Neutral detergent fiber

ADF:

Acid detergent fiber

ADL:

Acid detergent lignin

R h :

Hemicellulose content, wt%

R c :

Cellulose content, wt%

R l :

Lignin content, wt%

R e :

Extraction content, wt%

η m :

Mass yield, %

λ HHV :

Energy enhancement factor, %

λ d :

Component decomposition coefficient, %

Δλ :

Energy enhancement factor difference

η e :

Energy yield, %

η r :

Relative reduction, %

η C :

Carbon element yield efficiency, %

η H :

Hydrogen element yield efficiency, %

η O :

Oxygen element yield efficiency,

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51476079) and the Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20190708).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Yiwei Zhang, Ping Lu, Dandan Chen & Tao Song

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  1. Yiwei Zhang
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  2. Ping Lu
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Correspondence to Ping Lu.

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Zhang, Y., Lu, P., Chen, D. et al. Effect of operation conditions on fuel characteristics of hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization of agroforestry biomass. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 13, 11891–11903 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-02003-w

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