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Pilot scale pyro-gasification of biomass and waste: char characterization

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Abstract

The research done in this paper is focused on the properties of eight char samples that were produced by a pilot scale reactor: Spirajoule® located in France. This reactor converted different biomass and waste feedstock into three phase’s products: syngas, tars, and chars. In some cases, chars are considered as co-products without added value. However, they present numerous potential applications. Thus, this research is conducted precisely on the characterization of eight chars originating from biomass (waste wood, sawdust, miscanthus wood, and grape marc) and from waste (tires, municipal, and industrial RDF). Four property domains were studied in this research: physicochemical properties (moisture content, pH, skeletal density, and TGA), texture and morphology (SEM/EDX and BET specific surface area), surface chemistry (FTIR), and structure (XRD). Our results showed that the properties of these chars match the properties required in some applications such as soil amendment, catalyst, and water and gas treatment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the technicians at the TIMR laboratory EA-4297 and at the Service of Physico-chemical Analysis of UTC for their contribution and technical help.

Funding

Financial support for this project provided by the TIMR laboratory is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de technologie de Compiègne, ESCOM, TIMR (Integrated Transformations of Renewable Matter), Centre de recherche Royallieu - CS 60 319, 60 203, Compiègne Cedex, France

    Jean-Noël Semaan & Elias Daouk

  2. ETIA, Carrefour Jean Monnet Lacroix Saint Ouen, 60201, Compiègne, France

    Maïté Huron

Authors
  1. Jean-Noël Semaan
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  2. Maïté Huron
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  3. Elias Daouk
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Contributions

All authors contributed to this study. Experimental work was done by Jean-Noël Semaan, under the supervision of Elias Daouk, in collaboration with Maïté Huron who provided the samples. Jean-Noel Semaan wrote the preliminary form of this paper and all authors commented on previous versions. The final form of the manuscript was read and approved by all authors.

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Correspondence to Elias Daouk.

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Statement of novelty

Thermochemical conversion processes have been the subject of increasing attention in clean energy sectors. Pyrolysis and gasification are considered as the most promising technologies. They enable conversion of biomass and wastes into combustible gases, synthetic fuels, and chemicals. In some cases, the solid co-product residue of these processes, which is also known as char, is without added value. The main focus of this study is to characterize pyro-gasification chars produced using a pilot scale reactor: Spirajoule® technology. It is an exclusive design for ETIA-Ecotechnologies. This reactor is a screw conveyor belt that is electrically heated to treat the material being processed. Char samples of several feedstock origins were tested in this project: Physicochemical, structural, and many more char properties were well defined and interpreted.

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Semaan, JN., Huron, M. & Daouk, E. Pilot scale pyro-gasification of biomass and waste: char characterization. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 5751–5765 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-01181-3

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