Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12
THERMOCHEMICAL CONVERSION:
TORREFACTION
J AAP H.A. K IEL 1,2 ,A RNO H.H. J ANSSEN 1 , AND Y ASH J OSHI 2
1 ECN, Biomass & Energy Efficiency, Petten, the Netherlands
2 Department of Process and Energy, Energy Technology Section, Faculty of Mechanical,
Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
ACRONYMS
LHV lower heating value
NMR nuclear magnetic resonance
12.1
INTRODUCTION
As compared to modern fossil hydrocarbons, raw biomass is an inferior fuel. It typ-
ically has a lower energy density; is hydrophilic (leading to a decreased heating
value); is vulnerable to biodegradation (leading to problems in storage); is often tena-
cious and fibrous (leading to higher energy consumption during size reduction); and
furthermore is highly heterogeneous. These properties impede the logistics (handling,
transport, and storage) and large-scale end use (combustion, gasification, and chem-
ical processing) of raw biomass. Torrefaction is the thermal treatment of biomass car-
ried out typically between 240 and 320 C under nonoxidizing conditions aimed at
 
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