Intermediate pyrolysis of biomass energy pellets for producing sustainable liquid, gaseous and solid fuels

Y. Yang*, J.G. Brammer, A.S.N. Mahmood, A. Hornung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This work describes the use of intermediate pyrolysis system to produce liquid, gaseous and solid fuels from pelletised wood and barley straw feedstock. Experiments were conducted in a pilot-scale system and all products were collected and analysed. The liquid products were separated into an aqueous phase and an organic phase (pyrolysis oil) under gravity. The oil yields were 34.1 wt.% and 12.0 wt.% for wood and barley straw, respectively. Analysis found that both oils were rich in heterocyclic and phenolic compounds and have heating values over 24 MJ/kg. The yields of char for both feedstocks were found to be about 30 wt.%, with heating values similar to that of typical sub-bituminous class coal. Gas yields were calculated to be approximately 20 wt.%. Studies showed that both gases had heating values similar to that of downdraft gasification producer gas. Analysis on product energy yields indicated the process efficiency was about 75%.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)794–799
Number of pages6
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume169
Early online date16 Jul 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2014

Bibliographical note

© Copyright: 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Bioresource technology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Yang, Y, Brammer, JG, Mahmood, ASN & Hornung, A 2014, 'Intermediate pyrolysis of biomass energy pellets for producing sustainable liquid, gaseous and solid fuels' Bioresource technology, Vol.169 (2014) DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.044

Funding: EU Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) PYROGAS Project, Grant Agreement No. 286244; European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project ‘‘European Bioenergy Research Institute’’ technology demonstration, Project Reference No. 080/XBG/IN1019.

Supplementary data: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.044

Keywords

  • intermediate pyrolysis
  • pilot scale
  • pyrolysis oil
  • pyroformer
  • sustainable fuels

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Intermediate pyrolysis of biomass energy pellets for producing sustainable liquid, gaseous and solid fuels'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this