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Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production
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Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B2: Clean Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2022) | Viewed by 11834

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mohammad Heidari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Net Zero Advisor & Project Manager, WSP, Toronto, ON, Canada
2. School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Interests: energy; biomass; integrated community energy systems; optimization; renewable energy
Dr. Shakirudeen Salaudeen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada
2. School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Interests: biomass conversion; hydrogen production; waste-to-energy; renewable energy; carbon capture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editor is inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies titled “Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production”. Energy production via the carbonization of biomass has been considered a promising technique to utilize extensive biomass resources. By applying different carbonization techniques, the biomass is converted into a highly carbonaceous, charcoal-like material. Bio-/hydro-char is the main product of carbonization techniques, including hydrothermal carbonization, torrefaction, and pyrolysis. Lab-scale analyses have shown scientific advancements in this topic and have contributed to a greater understanding of these processes. However, significant gaps in establishing the general design parameters, integration of carbonization techniques in energy projects, industrial designs of carbonization reactors, and optimization techniques and models exist.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Design and development of carbonization systems
  • Numerical analysis of carbonization systems
  • Thermodynamic and heat transfer models
  • Integration of carbonization systems in district energy projects
  • Integration of carbonization processes with other thermochemical and biochemical processes
  • Reaction kinetics and process optimization
  • Life cycle analysis of carbonization processes
  • Circular bioeconomy with carbonization processes
  • Further processing of bio-/hydro-char for energy storage and catalysis sectors

Dr. Mohammad Heidari
Dr. Shakirudeen Salaudeen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Process optimization
  • Process integration
  • Biomass carbonization
  • Hydrothermal carbonization
  • Slow pyrolysis
  • Torrefaction
  • Char production
  • Industrial reactors
  • Continuous reactors
  • Catalyst

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 3008 KiB  
Article
Hydrothermal Conversion of Waste Biomass from Greenhouses into Hydrochar for Energy, Soil Amendment, and Wastewater Treatment Applications
by Abu-Taher Jamal-Uddin, Shakirudeen A. Salaudeen, Animesh Dutta and Richard G. Zytner
Energies 2022, 15(10), 3663; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103663 - 17 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1919
Abstract
Solid hydrochar (HC) produced by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of tomato plant biomass from a greenhouse (GH) was assessed for different inhouse applications, including fuel, seed germination, and leached GH nutrient feed (GNF) wastewater treatment. Completed experiments showed encouraging results. HC was revealed to [...] Read more.
Solid hydrochar (HC) produced by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of tomato plant biomass from a greenhouse (GH) was assessed for different inhouse applications, including fuel, seed germination, and leached GH nutrient feed (GNF) wastewater treatment. Completed experiments showed encouraging results. HC was revealed to be an efficient renewable fuel, having peat-like characteristics with high heating value of about 26.0 MJ/kg and very low clinker forming potential. This would allow the use of HC as fuel for GH heating as a substitute to costly natural gas, or it could be commercialized after pelletizing. Experiments with soil application showed substantial potential for the produced HC in better seed germination of tomato plants. Another benefit from use of the produced HC is as a soil additive, which would also contribute to environmental emission reduction. Results suggest that the generated HC can remove about 6–30% of nutrients from leached-GNF wastewater. This would be an essential treatment in the reduction of nutrients from leached water from GH operations, and thus could prevent/reduce eutrophication. The exhausted HC after treatment application could then be reused for soil remediation. Overall, the paper highlights the potential applications of hydrothermal treatment in valorization of low-valued GH TPB waste, resulting in a circular economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production)
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27 pages, 12428 KiB  
Article
Municipal Solid Waste Thermal Analysis—Pyrolysis Kinetics and Decomposition Reactions
by Ewa Syguła, Kacper Świechowski, Małgorzata Hejna, Ines Kunaszyk and Andrzej Białowiec
Energies 2021, 14(15), 4510; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14154510 - 26 Jul 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2961
Abstract
In this study, 12 organic waste materials were subjected to TG/DTG thermogravimetric analysis and DSC calorimetric analysis. These analyses provided basic information about thermochemical transformations and degradation rates during organic waste pyrolysis. Organic waste materials were divided into six basic groups as follows: [...] Read more.
In this study, 12 organic waste materials were subjected to TG/DTG thermogravimetric analysis and DSC calorimetric analysis. These analyses provided basic information about thermochemical transformations and degradation rates during organic waste pyrolysis. Organic waste materials were divided into six basic groups as follows: paper, cardboard, textiles, plastics, hygiene waste, and biodegradable waste. For each group, two waste materials were selected to be studied. Research materials were (i) paper (receipts, cotton wool); (ii) cardboard (cardboard, egg carton); (iii) textiles (cotton, leather); (iv) plastics (polyethylene (PET), polyurethane (PU)); (v) hygiene waste (diapers, leno); and (vi) biodegradable waste (chicken meat, potato peel). Waste materials were chosen to represent the most abundant waste that can be found in the municipal solid waste stream. Based on TG results, kinetic parameters according to the Coats–Redfern method were determined. The pyrolysis activation energy was the highest for cotton, 134.5 kJ × (mol∙K)−1, and the lowest for leather, 25.2 kJ × (mol∙K)−1. The DSC analysis showed that a number of transformations occurred during pyrolysis for each material. For each transformation, the normalized energy required for transformation, or released during transformation, was determined, and then summarized to present the energy balance. The study found that the energy balance was negative for only three waste materials—PET (−220.1 J × g−1), leather (−66.8 J × g−1), and chicken meat (−130.3 J × g−1)—whereas the highest positive balance value was found for potato peelings (367.8 J × g−1). The obtained results may be applied for the modelling of energy and mass balance of municipal solid waste pyrolysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production)
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18 pages, 1685 KiB  
Article
Miscanthus to Biocarbon for Canadian Iron and Steel Industries: An Innovative Approach
by Trishan Deb Abhi, Omid Norouzi, Kevin Macdermid-Watts, Mohammad Heidari, Syeda Tasnim and Animesh Dutta
Energies 2021, 14(15), 4493; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14154493 - 25 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2588
Abstract
Iron-based industries are one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Partial substitution of fossil carbon with renewable biocarbon (biomass) into the blast furnace (BF) process can be a sustainable approach to mitigating GHG emissions from the ironmaking process. However, the [...] Read more.
Iron-based industries are one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Partial substitution of fossil carbon with renewable biocarbon (biomass) into the blast furnace (BF) process can be a sustainable approach to mitigating GHG emissions from the ironmaking process. However, the main barriers of using biomass for this purpose are the inherent high alkaline and phosphorous contents in ash, resulting in fouling, slagging, and scaling on the BF surface. Furthermore, the carbon content of the biomass is considerably lower than coal. To address these barriers, this research proposed an innovative approach of combining two thermochemical conversion methods, namely hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and slow pyrolysis, for converting biomass into suitable biocarbon for the ironmaking process. Miscanthus, which is one of the most abundant herbaceous biomass sources, was first treated by HTC to obtain the lowest possible ash content mainly due to reduction in alkali matter and phosphorous contents, and then subjected to slow pyrolysis to increase the carbon content. Design expert 11 was used to plan the number of the required experiments and to find the optimal condition for HTC and pyrolysis steps. It was found that the biocarbon obtained from HTC at 199 °C for 28 min and consecutively pyrolyzed at 400 °C for 30 min showed similar properties to pulverized coal injection (PCI) which is currently used in BFs due to its low ash content (0.19%) and high carbon content (79.67%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production)
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Review

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28 pages, 2551 KiB  
Review
Computational Modeling Approaches of Hydrothermal Carbonization: A Critical Review
by Mitchell Ubene, Mohammad Heidari and Animesh Dutta
Energies 2022, 15(6), 2209; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15062209 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3222
Abstract
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) continues to gain recognition over other valorization techniques for organic and biomass residue in recent research. The hydrochar product of HTC can be effectively produced from various sustainable resources and has been shown to have impressive potential for a wide [...] Read more.
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) continues to gain recognition over other valorization techniques for organic and biomass residue in recent research. The hydrochar product of HTC can be effectively produced from various sustainable resources and has been shown to have impressive potential for a wide range of applications. As industries work to adapt the implementation of HTC over large processes, the need for reliable models that can be referred to for predictions and optimization studies are becoming imperative. Although much of the available research relating to HTC has worked on the modeling area, a large gap remains in developing advanced computational models that can better describe the complex mechanisms, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics that take place in the reactor of the process. This review aims to highlight the importance of expanding the research relating to computational modeling for HTC conversion of biomass. It identifies six research areas that are recommended to be further examined for contributing to necessary advancements that need to be made for large-scale and continuous HTC operations. The six areas that are identified for further investigation are variable feedstock compositions, heat of exothermic reactions, type of reactor and scale-up, consideration of pre-pressurization, consideration of the heat-up period, and porosity of feedstock. Addressing these areas in future HTC modeling efforts will greatly help with commercialization of this promising technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbonization of Biomass for Energy Production)
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