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Hydrothermal carbonization of various lignocellulosic biomass

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Abstract

As a non-food, renewable energy resource, lignocellulosic biomass can be used for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a process to prepare the lignocellulosic biomass for subsequent thermochemical conversion. Biomass is reacted in hot compressed water at temperatures between 200 and 275 °C and at pressures sufficient to maintain liquid water. HTC was performed on corn stover, rice hulls, Tahoe mix (Jeffrey pine and white fir), switch grass, and Loblolly pine. These biomass sources encompass a variety of types, including a primary agricultural residue, a secondary agricultural residue, a forest product removed to reduce wildfires, a primary energy crop, and a primary forest crop. HTC reaction temperature was found to be the process variable with the greatest effect. For the five biomass studied, hydrochar mass yields were found to decrease with increasing reaction temperature, while higher heating values increased with increasing reaction temperature. Differences in these results among biomass sources were found to correlate with their original hemicellulose, lignin, aqueous soluble, and ash contents. These components appeared to be observable in scanning electron microscope images of hydrochar.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by Department of Energy (Contract Number: DE-FG36-01GO11082). The authors acknowledge meaningful conversations with project partners, including Larry Felix of the Gas Technology Institute, and Craig Einfeldt of Changing World Technologies. Experimental work of Mr. Tapas Acharjee and Mr. Jason Hastings is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical & Materials Engineering Department, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia St. MS 170, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Joan G. Lynam, Victor R. Vásquez & Charles J. Coronella

  2. APECS Group, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Max-Eyth-Alee-100, 14469, Potsdam, Germany

    M. Toufiq Reza

  3. Gas Technology Institute, Energy Conversion Division, Des Plaines, IL, 60018, USA

    Wei Yan

Authors
  1. Joan G. Lynam
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  2. M. Toufiq Reza
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  3. Wei Yan
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  4. Victor R. Vásquez
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  5. Charles J. Coronella
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles J. Coronella.

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Lynam, J.G., Reza, M.T., Yan, W. et al. Hydrothermal carbonization of various lignocellulosic biomass. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 5, 173–181 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-014-0137-3

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