Characterization of woodstove briquettes from torrefied biomass and coal

Anna Trubetskaya*, James J. Leahy, Elena Yazhenskikh, Michael Müller, Peter Layden, Robert Johnson, Kenny Ståhl, Rory F.D. Monaghan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Using waste biomass materials offers the potential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Torrefaction is very useful for improving the fuel properties of biomass in order to better match those of coal. The aim of this work is to compare the properties of torrefied low quality biomass briquettes against coal equivalents. The composition of the briquettes was characterized by 13C CP/MAS, proximate analysis, and X-ray diffraction and the results were compared with equilibrium calculations. In addition to these techniques, we report for the first time on the use of XμCT for characterizing such materials. The XμCT analysis showed that the briquette structure contains carbon, binder and inorganic matter, with quartz retained from the original feedstock in torrefied biomass and coal briquettes. The CO2 reactivity of pulverized briquettes was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that the inorganic matter influences the reactivity less than the organic composition and porosity. Importantly from a technological standpoint, the increase in binder concentration and replacement of starch with resin binder did not influence the reactivity and calorific value of a pulverized briquette.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnergy
Volume171
Pages (from-to)853-865
Number of pages13
ISSN0360-5442
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Binders
  • Char
  • Olive stones and coal briquettes
  • Solid-state NMR
  • Torrefaction
  • XμCT

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Characterization of woodstove briquettes from torrefied biomass and coal'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this