Thailand has great potential to use woody biomass for renewable fuels and energy. However, its current utilization is rather low due to the high moisture content and low energetic density. The quality of raw woody biomass as fuels can be greatly improved by applying a suitable pretreatment by the thermochemical conversions such as torrefaction. The aim of this work was to investigate effect of torrefaction temperature on the mass-energy yields, energy density and torrefaction energy index of luecaena wood chips. The torrefaction experimental work was carried out in laboratory scale vibrating reactor with torrefaction temperature ranging was set between 200 to 300°C with holding times of 1 hour. The three units of 4 kW electrical heater was used to heat the reactor. From the results obtained, it was found that torrefaction temperature has a significant impact on torrefied product proximate and energy properties. The higher heating value of torrefied product was increased with torrefaction temperature. Optimum torrefaction temperature for luecaena wood chips via vibrating reactor was identified at 275°C with residence time 1 hour, for maximum mass and energy yields. At this condition, the energy content of torrefied product was improved to 20.3 MJ·kg-1, 40% higher than the original values. The value and energy yield of wood chips could be improved through torrefaction, an appropriate for upgrading biomass as fuel or biocoal.

Login to Download PDF

Please login with your Paper ID and password to access the full PDF.

🔑 Login to Download