Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Utilising Torrefaction to Determine the Fuel Characteristics of Forestry and Agricultural Biomass for Solid Biofuel

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Biosystems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The use of coal has declined owing to growing concerns regarding environmental pollution worldwide. Biomass is becoming a feasible alternative to coal, particularly for the continuous generation of agricultural biomass. However, the low heating value of biomass limits its widespread use. Torrefaction may help overcome the restriction of biomass. Methods: This study performed torrefaction on soybean husks, maize cobs, rice straw, pruned grape branches, wood pellets, and bamboo. Torrefaction was done at 230–310 ℃ for 30 or 60 min.

Results

The mass yield ranged from 35.62% to 93.59%, depending on the biomass type and process variables. The mass yield and severity factor were positively correlated with correlations ranging from 0.7074 to 0.9345. Moreover, the fuel properties changed, wherein mass loss, fixed carbon, and volatile matter changed slightly in the wood pellets. In contrast, increasing the treatment temperature and duration heightened the fixed carbon content and decreased the volatile matter content of the remaining biomass. Elemental analysis showed an increase in carbon content and a decrease in hydrogen and oxygen contents. Some torrefied biomasses have a low combustion index, which may make fuel usage difficult. Generally, enhancements in conventional biomass were evident.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that the process of torrefaction led to improvements in biomass fuel properties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bach, Q. V., & Skreiberg, O. (2016). Upgrading biomass fuels via wet torrefaction: A review and comparison with dry torrefaction. In Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (Vol. 54, pp. 665–677). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.10.014

  • Basu, P. (2018). Biomass Gasification, Pyrolysis and Torrefaction: Practical Design and Theory (2nd edtion, Vol. 2nd). Academic Press.

  • Bisset V (2023). The U.N. warns ‘an era of global boiling’ has started. What does that mean? The Washington Post.

  • Cao, X., Luo, Q., Song, F., Liu, G., Chen, S., Li, Y., Li, X., & Lu, Y. (2023). Effects of oxidative torrefaction on the physicochemical properties and pyrolysis products of hemicellulose in bamboo processing residues. Industrial Crops and Products, 191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.115986

  • Chen, D., Chen, F., Cen, K., Cao, X., Zhang, J., & Zhou, J. (2020). Upgrading rice husk via oxidative torrefaction: Characterization of solid, liquid, gaseous products and a comparison with non-oxidative torrefaction. Fuel, 275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117936

  • Conag, A. T., Villahermosa, J. E. R., Cabatingan, L. K., & Go, A. W. (2018). Energy densification of sugarcane leaves through torrefaction under minimized oxidative atmosphere. Energy for Sustainable Development, 42, 160–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2017.11.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joshi, Y., Di Marcello, M., & De Jong, W. (2015). Torrefaction: Mechanistic study of constituent transformations in herbaceous biomass. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 115, 353–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2015.08.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, M. (2020). Bamboo is now used as a raw material for wood pellets. National Institute of Forest Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Lee, C., & Park, J. (2019). Evaluation of Fuel Quality for Solid Culm Bamboo from Myanmar by a Comparative Study. New & Renewable Energy, 15(4), 66–74. https://doi.org/10.7849/ksnre.2019.12.15.4.066

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C. G., Lee, S. Y., Joo, S. Y., Cho, L. H., Park, S. Y., Lee, S. H., Oh, K. C., & Kim, D. H. (2017). A Study on Agricultural by-products for Biomass-to-energy Conversion and Korean Collecting Model. New & Renewable Energy, 13(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.7849/ksnre.2017.3.13.1.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J. im, & Lee, S. eun. (2016). A Strategy for Agricultural Waste to Energy. Gyeonggi Yeonguwon.

  • Ma, Q., Han, L., & Huang, G. (2017). Evaluation of different water-washing treatments effects on wheat straw combustion properties. Bioresource Technology, 245, 1075–1083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, S.-W., Yang, J.-K., & Baek, K.-R. (2013). Fuel ratio and combustion characteristics of torrefied biomass. Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management, 30(4), 376–382. https://doi.org/10.9786/kswm.2013.30.4.376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prins, M. J., Ptasinski, K. J., & Janssen, F. J. J. G. (2006). More efficient biomass gasification via torrefaction. Energy, 31(15), 3458–3470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2006.03.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resource map analysis system. (2023). Korea Institute of Energy Research. https://www.kier-solar.org/user/map.do?type=bm. Accessed 5 Jul 2023

  • Roberto, C. S., Jr., De Castro, P., Freitas, V. P., Yamaji, M. F., & De Almeida, R. A. (2016). PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BAMBOO PELLETS. Bioscience Journal, 4, 922–930.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R. K., Sarkar, A., & Chakraborty, J. P. (2020). Effect of torrefaction on the physicochemical properties of eucalyptus derived biofuels: estimation of kinetic parameters and optimizing torrefaction using response surface methodology (RSM). Energy, 198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117369

  • Wang, C., Bi, H., Lin, Q., Jiang, C., Jiang, X., & Meng, K. (2021). Thermal Characteristics, Kinetics, and Volatility of Co-Combustion of Sewage Sludge and Rice Husk. Bioenergy Research, 14(3), 1014–1024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10203-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood pellet production and sales. (2023). Korea Forest Service.

  • Yang, G., Kim, J., Darsan Purusatama, B., Fajar Suri, I., Prasetia, D., & Kim Namhun. (2021). Low Temperature Carbonization Characteristics of Bamboo and Wood. Korean Wood Engineering, 29–29. https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=3885285. Accessed 5 Jul 2023

  • Zhang, D., Han, P., Zheng, H., & Yan, Z. (2022). Torrefaction of walnut oil processing wastes by superheated steam: Effects on products characteristics. Science of the Total Environment, 830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154649

  • Zheng, S., Hu, Y., Wang, Z., & Cheng, X. (2020). Experimental investigation on ignition and burnout characteristics of semi-coke and bituminous coal blends. Journal of the Energy Institute, 93(4), 1373–1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joei.2019.12.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education(2021R1A6A1A0304424211).

Funding

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education(2021R1A6A1A0304424211).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interdisciplinary Program in Smart Agriculture, Kangwon National University, Hyoja 2 Dong 192-1, Chuncheon-Si, Republic of Korea

    Sunyong Park, Seok Jun Kim & Dae Hyun Kim

  2. Agriculture and Life Science Research Institute, Kangwon National University, Hyoja 2 Dong 192-1, Chuncheon-Si, Republic of Korea

    Kwang Cheol Oh

  3. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Kangwon National University, Hyoja 2 Dong 192-1, Chuncheon-Si, Republic of Korea

    Seon Yeop Kim, Ha Eun Kim & Dae Hyun Kim

Authors
  1. Sunyong Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Seok Jun Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kwang Cheol Oh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Seon Yeop Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ha Eun Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dae Hyun Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dae Hyun Kim.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Park, S., Kim, S.J., Oh, K.C. et al. Utilising Torrefaction to Determine the Fuel Characteristics of Forestry and Agricultural Biomass for Solid Biofuel. J. Biosyst. Eng. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-024-00225-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-024-00225-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation