TY - JOUR
T1 - Progress in biomass torrefaction
T2 - Principles, applications and challenges
AU - Chen, Wei Hsin
AU - Lin, Bo Jhih
AU - Lin, Yu Ying
AU - Chu, Yen Shih
AU - Ubando, Aristotle T.
AU - Show, Pau Loke
AU - Ong, Hwai Chyuan
AU - Chang, Jo Shu
AU - Ho, Shih Hsin
AU - Culaba, Alvin B.
AU - Pétrissans, Anélie
AU - Pétrissans, Mathieu
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC, under the contracts MOST 106-2923-E-006-002-MY3, MOST 109-2221-E-006-040-MY3, and MOST 109-3116-F-006-016-CC1. This research is also supported in part by the Higher Education Sprout Project, Ministry of Education to the Headquarters of University Advancement at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), and scientific support in part by Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories (GEL) in Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - The development of biofuels has been considered as an important countermeasure to abate anthropogenic CO2 emissions, suppress deteriorated atmospheric greenhouse effect, and mitigate global warming. To produce biofuels from biomass, thermochemical conversion processes are considered as the most efficient routes wherein torrefaction has the lowest global warming potential. Combustion is the easiest way to consume biomass, which can be burned alone or co-fired with coal to generate heat and power. However, solid biomass fuels are not commonly applied in the industry due to their characteristics of hygroscopic nature and high moisture content, low bulk density and calorific value, poor grindability, low compositional homogeneity, and lower resistance against biological degradation. In recently developing biomass conversion technologies, torrefaction has attracted much attention since it can effectively upgrade solid biomass and produce coal-like fuel. Torrefaction is categorized into dry and wet torrefaction; the former can further be split into non-oxidative and oxidative torrefaction. Despite numerous methods developed, non-oxidative torrefaction, normally termed torrefaction, has a higher potential for practical applications and commercialization when compared to other methods. To provide a comprehensive review of the progress in biomass torrefaction technologies, this study aims to perform an in-depth literature survey of torrefaction principles, processes, systems, and to identify a current trend in practical torrefaction development and environmental performance. Moreover, the encountered challenges and perspectives from torrefaction development are underlined. This state-of-the-art review is conducive to the production and applications of biochar for resource utilization and environmental sustainability. To date, several kinds of reactors have been developed, while there is still no obviously preferred one as they simultaneously have pros and cons. Integrating torrefaction with other processes such as co-firing, gasification, pyrolysis, and ironmaking, etc., makes it more efficient and economically feasible in contrast to using a single process. By virtue of capturing carbon dioxide during the growth stage of biomass, negative carbon emissions can even be achieved from torrefied biomass.
AB - The development of biofuels has been considered as an important countermeasure to abate anthropogenic CO2 emissions, suppress deteriorated atmospheric greenhouse effect, and mitigate global warming. To produce biofuels from biomass, thermochemical conversion processes are considered as the most efficient routes wherein torrefaction has the lowest global warming potential. Combustion is the easiest way to consume biomass, which can be burned alone or co-fired with coal to generate heat and power. However, solid biomass fuels are not commonly applied in the industry due to their characteristics of hygroscopic nature and high moisture content, low bulk density and calorific value, poor grindability, low compositional homogeneity, and lower resistance against biological degradation. In recently developing biomass conversion technologies, torrefaction has attracted much attention since it can effectively upgrade solid biomass and produce coal-like fuel. Torrefaction is categorized into dry and wet torrefaction; the former can further be split into non-oxidative and oxidative torrefaction. Despite numerous methods developed, non-oxidative torrefaction, normally termed torrefaction, has a higher potential for practical applications and commercialization when compared to other methods. To provide a comprehensive review of the progress in biomass torrefaction technologies, this study aims to perform an in-depth literature survey of torrefaction principles, processes, systems, and to identify a current trend in practical torrefaction development and environmental performance. Moreover, the encountered challenges and perspectives from torrefaction development are underlined. This state-of-the-art review is conducive to the production and applications of biochar for resource utilization and environmental sustainability. To date, several kinds of reactors have been developed, while there is still no obviously preferred one as they simultaneously have pros and cons. Integrating torrefaction with other processes such as co-firing, gasification, pyrolysis, and ironmaking, etc., makes it more efficient and economically feasible in contrast to using a single process. By virtue of capturing carbon dioxide during the growth stage of biomass, negative carbon emissions can even be achieved from torrefied biomass.
KW - Bioenergy and biochar
KW - Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
KW - Lignocelluloses
KW - System integration
KW - Thermochemical conversion
KW - Torrefaction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094128231&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pecs.2020.100887
DO - 10.1016/j.pecs.2020.100887
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85094128231
SN - 0360-1285
VL - 82
JO - Progress in Energy and Combustion Science
JF - Progress in Energy and Combustion Science
M1 - 100887
ER -