| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Kaolin as fuel additive in grate combustion of biomass to mitigate ash related problems and particle emissions
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on the Impact of Fuel Quality on Power Production and the Environment. - : Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bioenergy is a fundamental part in sustainable development but use of novel fuel feedstocks potentiallymore sustainable may also bring associated ash-related challenges in practical operation that could bemitigated by co-conversion or additives. Kaolin, a clay mineral, is an additive known to be beneficialfor reduction of slagging tendencies and particulate matter formation in combustion of traditionalwoody-type biomass but its impact on thermal conversion of other biomasses still warrantsinvestigation. The aim of the present work is therefore to investigate how thermal conversion of atypical K-Ca-rich woody-type biomass, poplar, and a K-Si-rich annual crop, grass, is affected by kaolinaddition in fixed bed combustion. Additivation levels were calculated according to amount of alkaliintroduced with the two feedstocks, and incorporated by co-pelletization, in the case of poplar, anadditional blending d method was tested, by powder coating of pellets The results show that kaolinaddition improved the bottom ash characteristics, especially for grass, but the main differencesbetween feedstocks were found in particulate matter and flue gas composition. The particulate matterconcentrations were reduced with kaolin addition due to removal of gaseous K compounds which inturn caused higher SOx and HCl concentrations due to the lower amount of gaseous alkali for reaction.Further, initially high CO levels observed for both fuel feedstocks were reduced with the addition ofkaolin where co-pelletization with poplar proved more effective than powder coating the fuel particlesurfaces. This suggests that high concentrations of gaseous K-compounds may impact conversion ofthe carbonaceous matrix negatively.
|
|
| 3. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Off-gassing from 16 pilot-scale produced pellets assortments of torrefied pine : impact of torrefaction severity, storage time, pelletization parameters, and pellet quality
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Off-gassing from wood pellets poses risks in large scale handling chains - yet little is known on off-gassing from pellets of torrefied wood. This study reports CO, CO2, and O2 concentrations in off-gases during storage of 16 torrefied and two untreated pellets assortments. According to an experimental design, pellets were produced in pilot scale from pine chips torrefied at five different set points. Off-gassing was assessed in relation to storage conditions, torrefaction and pelletization parameters, and pellet quality. Pellets from the most severely torrefied pine formed CO, CO2, and consumed O2 similarly to untreated pellets. Off-gassing was positively correlated to pellet moisture content; however, the most severely torrefied also retained the least moisture. Open air storage (20–270 days) of torrefied chips prior to pelletization did not affect off-gassing levels. Results are important for safe handling; torrefied pellets can cause comparable levels as untreated pellets of CO, CO2, and O2.
|
|
| 4. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Off-gassing from pilot-scale torrefied pine wood chips : impact of torrefaction severity, cooling technology, and storage time
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Fuel processing technology. - : Elsevier. - 0378-3820 .- 1873-7188. ; 202
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During handling and storage of conventional wood pellets, O2 depletion as well as CO and CO2 off-gassing can reach acutely hazardous levels and certain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) may reach concerning levels from an occupational health and safety perspective. With new thermally pre-treated biomass commodities entering consumer markets, corresponding knowledge is needed on these assortments' off-gassing behaviour. In this study, relative concentrations of VOCs, CO, CO2, and O2 in the closed storage space of five different pilot-scale torrefied pine wood chip assortments were monitored over 12 days. The VOCs composition in the storage space differed between torrefaction treatment settings; terpenes decreased while furans and lignin degradation products peaked at narrow ranges with increased torrefaction severity, indicating that VOC off-gassing composition of individual compounds is highly specific. Generally, VOC amounts decreased with storage time, but for the mildest torrefied chips certain VOCs increased, predominantly compounds of higher volatility such as hexanal, acetone, and 2-pentylfuran. Also, the newly produced torrefied chips were cooled with two different post-process technologies: i) heat exchanging, and ii) heat exchanging with additional water spraying. Water spraying resulted in higher VOC concentrations, stronger O2 depletion, and factor four higher concentration of CO2 in the storage headspace.
|
|
| 5. |
- Borén, Eleonora, 1985-
(författare)
-
Off-gassing from thermally treated lignocellulosic biomass
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Off-gassing of hazardous compounds is, together with self-heating and dust explosions, the main safety hazards within large-scale biomass storage and handling. Formation of CO, CO2, and VOCs with concurrent O2 depletion can occur to hazardous levels in enclosed stored forest products. Several incidents of CO poisoning and suffocation of oxygen depletion have resulted in fatalities and injuries during cargo vessel discharge of forest products and in conjunction with wood pellet storage rooms and silos. Technologies for torrefaction and steam explosion for thermal treatment of biomass are under development and approaching commercialization, but their off-gassing behavior is essentially unknown.The overall objective of this thesis was to provide answers to one main question: “What is the off-gassing behaviour of thermally treated lignocellulosic biomass during storage?”. This was achieved by experimental studies and detailed analysis of off-gassing compounds sampled under realistic conditions, with special emphasis on the VOCs.Presented results show that off-gassing behavior is influenced by numerous factors, in the following ways. CO, CO2 and CH4 off-gassing levels from torrefied and stream-exploded biomass and pellets, and accompanying O2 depletion, are comparable to or lower than corresponding from untreated biomass. The treatments also cause major compositional shifts in VOCs; emissions of terpenes and native aldehydes decline, but levels of volatile cell wall degradation products (notably furans and aromatics) increase. The severity of the thermal treatment is also important; increases in torrefaction severity increase CO off-gassing from torrefied pine to levels comparable to emissions from conventional pellets, and increase O2 depletion for both torrefied chips and pellets. Both treatment temperature and duration also influence degradation rates and VOC composition. The product cooling technique is influential too; water spraying in addition to heat exchange increased CO2 and VOCs off-gassing from torrefied pine chips, as well as O2 depletion. Moreover, the composition of emitted gases co-varied with pellets’ moisture content; pellets of more severely treated material retained less moisture, regardless of their pre-conditioning moisture content. However, no co-variance was found between off-gassing and pelletization settings, the resulting pellet quality, or storage time of torrefied chips before pelletization. Pelletization of steam-exploded bark increased subsequent VOC off-gassing, and induced compositional shifts relative to emissions from unpelletized steam-exploded material. In addition, CO, CO2 and CH4 off-gassing, and O2 depletion, were positively correlated with the storage temperature of torrefied softwood. Similarly, CO and CH4 emissions from steam-exploded softwood increased with increases in storage temperature, and VOC off-gassing from both torrefied and steam-exploded softwood was more affected by storage temperature than by treatment severity. Levels of CO, CO2 and CH4 increased, while levels of O2 and most VOCs decreased, during storage of both torrefied and steam-exploded softwood.CO, CO2 and O2 levels were more affected by storage time than by treatment severity. Levels of VOCs were not significantly decreased or altered by nitrogen purging of storage spaces of steam-exploded or torrefied softwood, or controlled headspace gas exchange (intermittent ventilation) during storage of steam-exploded bark.In conclusion, rates of off-gassing of CO and CO2 from thermally treated biomass, and associated O2 depletion, are comparable to or lower than corresponding rates for untreated biomass. Thermal treatment induces shifts in both concentrations and profiles of VOCs. It is believed that the knowledge and insights gained provide refined foundations for future research and safe implementation of thermally treated fuels as energy carriers in renewable energy process chains.
|
|
| 6. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Off-gassing of VOCs and permanent gases during storage of torrefied and steam exploded wood
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Energy & Fuels. - Washington : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0887-0624 .- 1520-5029. ; 31:10, s. 10954-10965
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thermal treatment for upgrading of low-value feedstocks to improve fuel properties has gained large industrial interest in recent years. From a storage and transport perspective, hazardous off-gassing could be expected to decrease through the degradation of reactive biomass components. However, thermal treatment could also shift chemical compositions of volatile organic components, VOCs. While technologies are approaching commercialization, off-gassing behavior of the products, especially in terms of VOCs, is still unknown. In the present study, we measured off-gassing of VOCs together with CO, CO2, CH4, and O2 depletion from torrefied and steam exploded softwood during closed storage. The storage temperature, head space gas (air and N2), and storage time were varied. VOCs were monitored with a newly developed protocol based on active sampling with Tenax TA absorbent analyzed by thermal desorption-GC/MS. High VOC levels were found for both untreated and steam exploded softwood, but with a complete shift in composition from terpenes dominating the storage gas for untreated wood samples to an abundance of furfural in the headspace of steam exploded wood. Torrefied material emitted low levels of VOCs. By using multivariate statistics, it was shown that for both treatment methods and within the ranges tested, VOC off-gassing was affected first by the storage temperature and second by increasing treatment severity. Both steam exploded and torrefied biomass formed lower levels of CO than the reference biomass, but steam explosion caused a more severe O2 depletion.
|
|
| 7. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Reducing VOC off-gassing during the production of pelletized steam-exploded bark : impact of storage time and controlled ventilation
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Energy & Fuels. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0887-0624 .- 1520-5029. ; 32:4, s. 5181-5186
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Volatile organic compound (VOC) off-gassing behavior of thermally treated biomass intended for bioenergy production has recently been shown to be vastly different from that of untreated biomass. Simple measures to reduce emissions, such as controlled ventilation and prolonged storage time, have been suggested but not yet studied in detail. In the present study, we monitored how VOC off-gassing was reduced over time (24–144 h) in enclosed storage with and without ventilation. Steam-exploded bark was collected directly from a pilot-scale steam explosion plant as well as before and after subsequent pelletizing. Active Tenax-TA absorbent sampling of VOCs was performed from the headspaces of a bench-scale sample storage setup. The impact of storage time and ventilation on VOC levels was evaluated through multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that relative VOC concentrations in the headspace were reduced by increased storage time, with heavier VOCs reduced at a higher rate. VOC composition was neither reduced nor shifted by controlled intermittent ventilation during storage; instead, VOC levels equilibrated at the same levels as those stored without ventilation, and this was independent of the process step, storage time, or number of ventilations.
|
|
| 8. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
Reducing VOCs off-gassing during production of pelletized steam exploded bark : impact of storage time and controlled ventilation
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- VOC off-gassing behavior of thermally treated biomass intended for bioenergy production has recently been shown to be vastly different to that of untreated biomass. Simple measures to reduce emissions, such as controlled ventilation and prolonged storage time, has been suggested but not previously studied in detail. In the present study, we monitored how VOC off-gassing was reduced over time (24–144h) in closed storage with and without ventilation. Steam exploded bark was collected directly from a pilot scale steam explosion plant, and before and after subsequent pelletizing. Storage and active sampling of VOCs in the headspace was done in a bench-scale set-up using Tenax-TA absorbent. The impact of storage time and ventilation to reduce VOCs was evaluated through multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that VOC concentrations in the headspace were reduced by increased storage time, and that heavier VOCs reduced faster. No impact on either reducing or shifting VOC composition could be achieved by controlled ventilation during storage; instead, VOCs emitted to the same concentrations anew, independent of process step, storage time, or number of ventilations.
|
|
| 9. |
- Borén, Eleonora, et al.
(författare)
-
VOC off-gassing from pelletized steam exploded softwood bark : emissions at different industrial process steps
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Fuel processing technology. - : Elsevier. - 0378-3820 .- 1873-7188. ; 171, s. 70-77
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Formation of hazardous gases during transport and storage of biomass for large-scale bioenergy production is an important safety concern. While off-gassing has been addressed in numerous studies for raw woody biomass, very few describe it in the context of biomass for bioenergy production pre-treated by thermal technologies such as steam explosion. Volatile Organic Components (VOCs) are expected to be altered by the treatment, but until now there is no research published on VOC profiles of steam exploded materials in industrial scale. In the present study, VOCs emitted from the products were evaluated by sampling from different production steps from steam explosion of softwood bark, and following the production chain including also pelletization. Off-gasses were actively sampled using Tenax TA absorbent and analyzed by GC-MS. The VOC formation dependency of operation and storage conditions at different process steps was evaluated by multivariate statistical analysis. We showed that the different process steps along the production line was the main influencing factor for VOC off-gassing amounts, with highest VOC levels directly after the steam explosion process. Treatment severity mainly altered the relative composition of VOC profiles with more terpenes emitted from milder treatment, whereas more severe treatment shifted VOCs composition to contain more furans, e.g. furfural. In summary, treatment by steam explosion leads to potentially problematic VOC off-gassing profiles from the material, and levels vary considerable along the production line. The findings are important from a fuel handling and working environment perspective.
|
|
| 10. |
- Hedayati, Ali, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
-
Ash Transformation during Fixed-Bed Combustion of Agricultural Biomass with a Focus on Potassium and Phosphorus
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Energy & Fuels. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0887-0624 .- 1520-5029. ; 36:7, s. 3640-3653
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, ash transformation during fixed-bed combustion of different agricultural opportunity fuels was investigated with a special focus on potassium (K) and phosphorus (P). The fuel pellets were combusted in an underfed fixed-bed pellet burner. Residual ashes (bottom ash and slag) and particulate matter were collected and characterized by scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma, and ion chromatography. The interpretation of the results was supported by thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. For all fuels, almost all P (>97%) was found in residual-/coarse ash fractions, while K showed different degrees of volatilization, depending on fuel composition. During combustion of poplar, which represents Ca-K-rich fuels, a carbonate melt rich in K and Ca decomposed into CaO, CO2, and gaseous K species at sufficiently high temperatures. Ca5(PO4)3OH was the main P-containing crystalline phase in the bottom ash. For wheat straw and grass, representing Si-K-rich fuels, a lower degree of K volatilization was observed than for poplar. P was found here in amorphous phosphosilicates and CaKPO4. For wheat grain residues, representing P-K-rich fuels, a high degree of both K and P retention was observed due to the interaction of K and P with the fuel-bed constituents, i.e., char, ash, and slag. The residual ash was almost completely melted and rich in P, K, and Mg. P was found in amorphous phosphates and different crystalline phases such as KMgPO4, K2CaP2O7, K2MgP2O7, and K4Mg4(P2O7)3. In general, the results therefore imply that an interaction between ash-forming elements in a single burning fuel particle and the surrounding bed ash or slag is important for the overall retention of P and K during fuel conversion in fixed-bed combustion of agricultural biomass fuels.
|
|
