Fluidized bed torrefaction of commercial wood pellets: process

Jul 30, 2018 - This paper reports an experimental study aimed at investigating the influence of fluidized bed torrefaction treatment on the quality of...
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Biofuels and Biomass

Fluidized bed torrefaction of commercial wood pellets: process performance and solid product quality Paola Brachi, Riccardo Chirone, Michele MICCIO, and Giovanna Ruoppolo Energy Fuels, Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b01519 • Publication Date (Web): 30 Jul 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on August 12, 2018

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Fluidized bed torrefaction of commercial wood pellets: process performance and

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solid product quality

3 *

Paola Brachi§ , Riccardo Chirone§, Michele Miccio‡, Giovanna Ruoppolo§

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

§

Institute for Research on Combustion, National Research Council, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy ‡

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy

ABSTRACT

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This paper reports an experimental study aimed at investigating the influence of fluidized bed

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torrefaction treatment on the quality of commercial wood pellets. In particular, an experimental

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program was performed, which allowed to investigate, at a laboratory-scale, the impact of the

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torrefaction temperature (200, 230, 250 °C) and the reaction time (7 and 15 min) on: a) the

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distribution and the composition of the main output products of torrefaction process (torrefied

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solids, condensable volatiles and permanent gases); b) the quality of torrefied pellets; and c) process

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performance in terms of mass and energy yields of the solid product. In particular, the quality of

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pellets was characterized in terms of apparent density, bulk density, calorific values, volumetric

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energy density, moisture uptake, swelling behavior, hardness (shore D) and nonstandard durability

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index. Results suggest that light torrefaction (200 °C and 7-15 min) is the most suitable to ensure a

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sustainable production (84-85% mass yield and 94-95 energy yield) of high quality torrefied wood

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pellets (no swelling in water, about 27% decrease in the moisture uptake after 7 days of exposure in

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an environment at a high relative humidity of 80 %, hardness and durability comparable to those of

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untreated wood pellets, only a 2-3% decrease in the volume energy density) in a downstream

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configuration (torrefaction after pelletization). The torrefaction treatment of wood pellets in *

Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 081 5931567; e-mail address: [email protected] 1 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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fluidized bed reactor has not been investigated so far, therefore, findings of this work can be useful

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to highlight potential advantages and drawbacks related to use of such a technology in this specific

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application.

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Keywords: Torrefaction, Fluidized bed reactor, Wood pellets, Shore D Hardness, Durability, Hydrophobicity.

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1. INTRODUCTION

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Biomass is considered the renewable energy source with the highest potential for replacing

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fossil fuels in the short to medium term. 1,2 However, there are currently a number of challenges

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related to the quality of biomass resources that still prevent them from being used on a large scale

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for heat and power production. Biomass has, in fact, a lower energy content per unit mass compared

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with fossil fuels, which means that a higher load of feedstock is required in the case of biomass-fed

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plant in order get the same amount of energy when compared to fossil fuels. Moreover, biomass is a

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relatively bulky material. Typically, biomass bulk density ranges from 80-100 kg/m3 for agricultural

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straws and grasses to 150-200 kg/m3 for woody resources like wood chips and sawdust3, whereas

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the bulk density of coal is about 700 kg/m3.4 As a consequence of this, the volume of feedstock to

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be handled increases enormously, when biomass is used as a fuel instead of coal, with all the

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consequent issues that this can bring for logistics, e.g., storage and transportation, which are factors

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that greatly affect profit margins and thus the convenience of a biomass-fed plant. This is also the

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reason why it is only economically feasible to transport unprocessed biomass over a distance lower

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than about 200 km.4 Again, biomass cannot be stored outdoor without a careful protection since it is

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prone to natural decomposition over time and breakdown with exposure to moisture and pests (e.g.,

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flies and mosquitos), with consequent loss of quality and off-gas emissions; the high moisture

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content of some kinds of biomass (i.e., agro-industrial residues) also accelerates the decomposition

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process. In this regard, it is worth noting that drying biomass has a little benefit for the 2 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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improvement of biomass storage behavior. In fact, because of its hydrophilic nature, biomass can

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re-absorb moisture and start to decompose again.

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Recent developments in mechanical densification technologies, including pelletization and

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briquetting, have substantially improved the economics of moving biomass around the globe4,5.

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Typically, these technologies increase the biomass energy density (MJ/m3) through the increase of

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its bulk density (kg/m3), but have a very little benefit for the improvement of properties such as the

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low calorific values (MJ/kg) and the remarkable hydrophobic behavior. The lower heating value

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(LHV) of currently marketed wood pellets is, in fact, approximately 15-19 MJ/kg, which still limits

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the mixing ratio that can be used in co-firing with coal typically having a lower heating value

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(LHV) of about 23-28 MJ/kg.6

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Fuel pellets with a very high bulk energy density in the range from 15 to 18 GJ/m3 and a

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lower heating value as high as 20-24 MJ/kg can be obtained when torrefaction, a relatively new

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thermal pretreatment of biomass, is combined with pelletization.6 It is worth mentioning that wood

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pellets, which are known to be a very energy-dense biomass fuel, have a bulk energy density that

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typically range from 7.5 to 10 GJ/m3 whereas that of coal is about 18.4-23.8 GJ/m3.

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Basically, torrefaction is a thermo-chemical treatment where a solid biomass is heated in an

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inert environment up to a temperature ranging between 200 and 300 °C. It is traditionally

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characterized by low particle heating rate (typically less than 50 °C/min) and a relatively long

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reactor residence time that typically ranges from 30 to 120 minutes depending on the specific

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feedstock, technology and temperature. The benefits accomplished by torrefaction include the

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possibility to convert any lignocellulosic raw materials into a hydrophobic solid, which can be

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stored outdoors, can be co-fired efficiently with coal and have improved properties even for other

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applications such as pyrolysis and gasification. The bulk density of the torrefied material, however,

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is generally lower than that of the raw biomass, making transport and storage economically

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challenging. Therefore, combining torrefaction and pelletization has great potential to upgrade raw

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biomass into a standard commodity fuel. 3 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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So far, two potential pathways, either an upstream (torrefaction before pelletization) or

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downstream (torrefaction after pelletization) configuration, have been assessed for retrofitting

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torrefaction within pellet production facilities. In particular, since a successful upstream integration

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certainly produces highly dense and durable torrefied pellets, whereas a downstream integration

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could potentially results in a deterioration of pellet quality (e.g., a loss in strength and density), most

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of the research efforts performed so far, have been mainly focused on the upstream integration.7,8

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However, many challenges still remain with such configuration, which includes: (a) difficulty in

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densification with a consequent need for binders along with a conditioning step in order to obtain

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reasonable pelletization efficiency;9,10 (b) frequent maintenance requirements due to the abrasive

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nature of torrefied biomass that lower useful life of pellet;11 (c) safety concerns from fine generation

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during grinding and pelletizing torrefied biomass, in particular possibility of dust explosion11.

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Moreover, it is worth noting that, most of the currently used binders are hydrophilic and, hence, in

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addition to impart additional costs and lower the pellet heating value, they may also compromise

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pellet hydrophobicity.11 On the other hand, torrefaction as a downstream operation, where white

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pellets are torrefied to produce black pellets, has the benefit of being a simple bolt-on integration. In

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addition, downstream integration eliminates the need for additional grinding and pelletizing units,

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while minimizing plant contamination due to dust generated from processing torrefied biomass.

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Again, CAPEX can be reduced, since a typical torrefier has significantly higher throughput when

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processing pellets compared to wood chips.11

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In this context, taking into account the operational benefits of downstream integration

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compared to the upstream one, an experimental study on the torrefaction treatment of commercial

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wood pellets, which has been poorly investigated so far12-14, has been focused in this work.

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In detail, batch experimental runs were performed at three different temperatures for two

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values of the reaction time in order to investigate the effect of such process variables on both the

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quality of torrefied wood pellets (i.e., elemental composition, bulk and energy densities, sizes and

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shape, hydrophobic behavior, mechanical durability and fine particles content) and process 4 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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performances (i.e., mass and energy yields). To the best of the Authors’ knowledge, the torrefaction

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treatment of wood pellets in fluidized bed reactor has not been investigated so far. Therefore,

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findings of this work can also useful to highlight potential advantages and drawbacks related to use

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of the fluidization technology in this specific application.

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2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION

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2.1 Materials sampling and chemical characterization Commercial fir pellets (6 mm diameter and 3.15-4 mm length) were used in this work as biomass

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feedstock. Ticino sand in size range of 150-300 µm (Particle density = 2651 kg/m3; packed bulk

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density = 1537 kg/m3; Sauter mean diameter = 210 µm; minimum fluidization velocity = 4.14·10-2

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m/s at 25 °C) was used for the operation of the fluidized bed reactor.

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The determination of moisture content (M), volatile matter (VM), fixed carbon (FC), and ashes

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(ASH) in raw and torrefied biomass samples was performed by using a TGA 701 LECO

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thermogravimetric analyzer by following the ASTM D5142. The elemental composition (CHN) of

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samples was determined by using a CHN 2000 LECO analyzer according to the ASTM D5373

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standard method. The oxygen content was estimated by subtracting the sum of the percentages (dry

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basis) of C, H, N and ash from 100%. All the analyses were performed in triplicate at least.

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Liquid products were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC‐MS

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Agilent HP6890/HP5975, equipped with a capillary column DB-35MS, 30 m ×0.25 mm ID) using

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helium as carrier gas.

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pH measurements of liquid products were measured by using a Thomas Scientific 675 pH/ISE meter at ambient temperature.

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The analysis of permanent gases evolved during the torrefaction treatment of wood pellets was

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performed in real time. In particular, the Testo 350 advanced portable emission analyzer was used

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for the real-time monitoring of evolved carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which

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are the main components of permanent gases evolved during torrefaction processes11. 5 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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2.2. Calorific values, mass density and energy density of raw and torrefied pellets The higher heating value (HHV, MJ/kg, dry basis) was measured by using a Parr 6200 Isoperibol

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Calorimeter. The conversion of higher to lower heating values (LHV, MJ/kg, dry basis) was

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performed according to the following Eq. (1):

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LHV (MJ/kg) = HHV (MJ/kg) - 2.442(8.936·H/100)

(1)

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where the constant 2.442 is the enthalpy difference in MJ/kg between the gaseous and liquid

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water at 25 °C, the constant 8.936 is the ratio between the molar masses of water (H2O) and

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hydrogen (H2)15 and H is the weight fraction (%) of hydrogen in the samples on a dry basis, All the

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analyses were performed in duplicate at least.

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The apparent density of wood pellets was calculated as the ratio of the pellet mass to its volume.

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In particular, in this work, the ends of the tested wood pellets were flattened by using sandpaper in

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order to make them perfect cylinders. The length (L) and diameter (D) of cylinders were then

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measured by using a Vernier caliper (Mod. Metrica, 0.05mm and 1/128 inch Accuracy; 0-150 mm

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and 0-6 inch measuring Ranges), which were used to calculate the volume of pellets and hence their

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apparent density. The bulk density was calculated as the ratio of the mass to the volume (including

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the contribution of the interparticle void volume) of a batch of pellets, poured into a 25 ml

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graduated cylinder. The packed bulk density was obtained by mechanically tapping the cylinder

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containing the sample until no further volume change was observed. Density measurements were

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performed after the samples were oven dried at 105 ± 5 °C for 24 h. The density values reported

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later in Fig. 5A are the average of 5 measurements for each sample.

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Bulk and apparent energy densities (GJ/m3, dry basis) of raw and torrefied pellets were

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calculated as the ratio of the lower heating value (LHV) to the bulk and apparent density of the

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pellets, respectively. 6 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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2.3 Hygroscopic behavior of raw and torrefied pellets Two types of tests were used to investigate the hygroscopic behavior of both raw and torrefied

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wood pellets. The first one, coded below as exposure test, involved pellets that were placed in a

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climate-controlled chamber at specified humidity and temperature conditions. The second one,

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coded below as immersion test, involved the immersion of pellets in water. In both cases, pellets

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were analyzed to determine the resulting moisture uptake after a prefixed time. In more details,

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exposure tests were performed by using conventional static desiccator technique.16,17 Specifically, a

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glass desiccator containing a supersaturated solution of either KBr or K2CO3 in water was used as a

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humidity control chamber, which allowed exposing samples to 80 ±2 or 43 ±1 % RH at room

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temperature (i.e., 25 ± 2 °C), respectively. In order to minimize daily temperature changes the

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desiccator was partially submerged in a water bath. Approximately 5 g of oven-dried pellets were

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put into an open weighing bottle and then placed into the desiccator for testing. The humidity and

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temperature in the glass desiccator were checked by using a digital thermo-hygrometer (30.5005

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TFA Dostmann). The moisture content (MC, %wt) of pellets samples after an exposure time of 7

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days was measured by using a Kern DBS Halogen Moisture analyzer.

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Immersion tests were performed putting pellets of similar size into a 50 ml volumetric vials filled

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with about 30 mL of distilled water. At the end of the test, the solid samples were separated from

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water by using a sieve with 1 mm diameter and letting the sample drip water for about 30 minutes.

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After the dripping time, the moisture content (MC, %wt.) of wet pellets was measured by using the

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above mentioned Kern DBS analyzer.

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In both cases, the water uptake (mass gained), Wg (%wt.), with respect the initial mass of dry samples, was calculated by using the following formula:

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 = ( ) · 100

(2)

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2.4 Hardness and durability of raw and torrefied pellets

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A non-standard method was purposely set up in this work in order to compare at a small scale

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the quality of raw and torrefied wood pellets in terms of their durability, which represents the ability

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to hand pellets without experiencing unacceptable breakage or generating a significant amount of

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fines. This newly developed method allows for the determination of a pellet durability index

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(PDI)18, which is defined as the weight fraction (%) of whole pellets remaining intact in a sample

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tumbled according the method described below.

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About 5 g of dust-free pellets are placed on a 1 mm mesh sieve. The sieve is tightly covered at

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the top to prevent the loss of the material sample during sifting or mechanical agitation. A pan is

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also used to collect fines passing through the sieve. Four nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) balls (30

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mm diameters, 70 Shore A hardness) and 7 stainless steel ball bearings (4.5 mm diameter, grade

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100 AISI 316 ) are added to the sieve to make the test more stressing and somehow simulating the

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bulk handling during actual manufacturing and delivery steps. The durability test set (i.e., sieve, pan

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and cover) is placed on an orbital shaker moving at 210 rpm for 30 min. Afterward, fines are

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removed from the tumbled samples by screening and the remaining pellets are weighed against their

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initial mass to calculate the PDI as follows:

202 203

    !"#$

 (%. ) =    "

 !"#$

∙ 100

(3)

204 205

Analysis of pellets hardness was carried out by using a Shore D durometer (Sauter HBD 100-0)

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in accordance with ASTM D2240. This test method is based on the penetration of a specific type of

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indentor when forced into the material under specified conditions. The indentation hardness is

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inversely related to the penetration and is dependent on the elastic modulus and viscoelastic

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behavior of the material. Shore durometer hardness measurements were repeated at least 10 times 8 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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for each sample by using both different pellets and different points on each pellet. The average

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values and the standard deviation of measurements were accurately taken into account (see Fig. 8

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below).

213 214

2.5. Apparatus and procedures for pellets torrefaction

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A schematic representation of the laboratory-scale fluidized-bed apparatus is shown in Figure 1.

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The torrefaction unit of the apparatus consists of a steel tubular column (38 mm inner diameter and

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350 mm height) surrounded by an electrical heating tape (FGR-100/240V V-ROPE HEATER

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500W by Omegalux). The thermal insulation of the reactor is ensured by a mineral wool heat-

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insulating cylinder. The temperature of the reactor is regulated by a proportional integral derivative

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(PID) controller (Gefran 600 PID), which reads the bed temperature trough a K-type thermocouple

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inserted in the reactor at 7 cm above the gas distributor. A disk-shaped ceramic fiber felt (6 mm

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thick) set at the bottom of the column and topped by a 15 mm height bed of steel spheres

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(4.5 mm diameter) acts as the gas distributor. A flowmeter (Asameter Model E, by ASA) with a

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100-1000 NL/h flow range supplies nitrogen as a fluidization gas during the torrefaction tests. A

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glass tubular trap followed by a water-cooled Liebig condenser and an air-cooled Liebig condenser

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are used as gas-liquid separators in order to recover the condensable fraction of the torgas evolved

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during the torrefaction treatment of wood pellets.

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Batch torrefaction tests were performed at three different temperatures (i.e., 200, 230 and 250

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°C) and by fixing the reaction time equal to either 7 or 15 min. Torrefaction tests and the resulting

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solid products will be coded below as “TWP-T-t” where TWP stands for torrefied wood pellet

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(TWP), T indicates the torrefaction temperature and t the reaction time: for example,TWP-200-15

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denotes the torrefied pellets obtained from a test performed at 200 °C by fixing the reaction time at

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15 min. In a typical experimental run, about 20 g of raw wood pellets (RWP) having a moisture

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content of approximately 6-7 % wt. was charged into the reactor. The aspect ratio of the granular

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solid bed, which is defined as the ratio of height to diameter of the bed, was set as high as 4. At 9 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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startup, the bed of granular solid was heated to the selected torrefaction temperature while using air

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as a fluidizing gas. When the fluidized bed reached its prefixed steady-state temperature, the

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fluidizing gas was switched to nitrogen and the biomass was dropped from the top into the reactor.

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During torrefaction tests, the nitrogen flow rate was set equal to 200 Nl/h corresponding to a

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fluidization velocity in the range from 7.8·10-2 to 9.7·10-2 m/s at the operating temperatures. This

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choice, which was suggested by preliminary trial and error fluidization tests, allowed achieving a

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good mixing of biomass and inert particles in the bed during torrefaction tests while preventing

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their elutriation and segregation. The resulting gas−solid contact time, calculated as the ratio of the

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static bed height to the superficial gas velocity, slightly increased with the rise in the torrefaction

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temperature. Once the prefixed test time was passed, the bed was cooled down to less than 100 °C

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as fast as possible (approximately 2-3 min) by turning the electrical heater off, removing the reactor

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from the insulating cylinder and blowing cold compressed air onto the reactor surface. Finally, the

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solid and liquid products were recovered and weighted. In more details, the condensable volatiles

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evolved during torrefaction tests were quantitatively recovered from tail end of the tube reactor and

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the three adopted condensation traps (see Fig. 1) by washing these latter with acetone. Afterward,

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they were collected as trap-1 liquids (T1-L), when recovered from the tail end of the reactor

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column, trap2 liquids (T2-L), when recovered from the glass tubular trap, trap-3 liquids (T3-L),

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when recovered from the water-cooled Liebig condenser and trap-4 liquids (T4-L), when recovered

254

from the air-cooled Liebig condenser. The solid torrefied product was separated from the granular

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solid by manual sieving. Mass yields of solid (MYS), liquid (MYL), and gaseous (MYG) products

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were evaluated on an as-received basis (ar) through the following Eqs. 4−6. It is worth noting that

257

the mass of condensable compounds used in Eq. 2 does not include the mass of the T1-L fraction

258

recovered from the tail end of the reactor column, which was of difficult determination. The energy

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densification index (IED) and the energy yield (EYS) of torrefied solids were also evaluated on a dry

260

basis by means of Eqs. 7 and 8.

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Energy & Fuels

-.//01203 4.523

262

&'( (%, *+) = ,

263

&': (%, *+) = ,

264

&'? (%, *+) = ,

265

DE (−, GH) =

/67 7..3 80550-4

9 ∙ 100

;.