Advances in Biomass Preprocessing and Pretreatments and Valorization to Energy

Dear Colleagues,

Biomass physical properties and chemical compostion impact biofuels production. Particle size, density, chemical composition of biomass are important specifications for both biochemical and thermochemical conversion pathways. Also these properties influence the feeding, handling, storage and transportation.

Size reduction, densification and torrefaction impact the biomass physical and chemical properties and make them suitable for biofuels production. Size reduction of biomass using grinding equipment helps to meet the desired specifications in terms of particle size. Densification ensures the biomass has a uniform format with consistent physical properties such as size and shape, density, and durability, which significantly influence storage, transportation and handling characteristics. A variety of densification systems, such as (i) pellet mill; (ii) cuber; (iii) screw extruder; (iv) briquette press; (v) roller press; (vi) tablet press; and (vii) agglomerator, are available for bioenergy applications. Torrefaction, which is a thermal pretreatment method, makes biomass brittle making it easier to grind (better particle size and shape), changes the chemical composition (removing the moisture and low-energy content of volatiles), and increases the net energy content of the biomass.

The emphasis of this Special Issue is to examine the advances in biomass size reduction, densification and torrefaction technologies and their impact on physical, chemical and energy properties for biofuels production.

Dr. Jaya Shankar Tumuluru
Guest Editor

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