STUDIES ON BARREL TYPE CARBONIZER

FOR CARBONAIZATION

OF

SUGAR CANE TRASH

 Introduction

Energy is a key factor in terms of both economic development and climate

change. Integrated energy supply systems involving the use of all renewable forms of

energy like solar, wind, biomass, biogas, geothermal, etc. have to be developed. Other

opportunities like hydrogen and nuclear energy will have to be integrated into an overall

sustainable energy security system.

The adverse impact of the steep rise in energy cost has multiple dimensions. First,

land and crops are being diverted from food to fuel production in many countries. For

example one forth of total maize production and 20 % of soybean oil production now go

for ethanol and bio-fuel manufacture in the United States. The bio diesel industry used

last year 60 % .of the rapeseed output in European Union. Because of the use of maize

for ethanol production, larger quantities of wheat are being diverted for feeding animals.

The export price of wheat which stood at$381 per tones in January 2008, climbed to$449

per tones in Feb 2008.

Agriculture produces not only economically useful products but also a lot of

waste material. In the case of grain crops, be it cereals, oilseeds or pulses, only about 30

to 40 % of the total biomass is in the form of grain, while the rest, called Stover, is

basically useless. Stalks of some cereals are used as cattle fodder, but they serve more as

fillers rather than as nutrition. Woody material such as stalks of cotton or pigeon pea is
burned directly in a cook stove, but that too is a very low quality fuel, producing a lot of

soot and smoke.

About 20 years ago, a briquette process was introduced into India, for

compressing light biomass into fuel pellets or briquettes, which could substitute wood.

Agricultural waste consists of highly lignified material. When such material is

compressed, the compression generates heat, which melts the lignin, which in turn holds

the particles of biomass together. The briquettes produced by the process burn just like

wood, and therefore the users were not willing to pay a higher price for them than that of

wood. But because the pressure required in this process was very high, use was made of

very heavy machinery and high energy. The raw material required for this process,

Agricultural waste, is scattered all over the countryside. Its low density and wide

distribution made it very costly to collect and transport it to a central briquette unit. As a

result of the high cost of machinery high energy requirement of the process and high cost

of collection and transport of the raw material the process turned out to be uneconomical

and it was therefore abandoned.

The scientists used the same raw material but instead of compressing the

unprocessed agricultural waste into briquettes they first converted the material into

charcoal and made briquettes out of the charcoal. The key to this process was the charring

kiln. In a traditional charcoaling kiln the entire material to be charred is enclosed in the

kiln and ignited. The air supply to the burning material is regulated in such a manner that

only a part of it burns and the heat generated by the burning material chars the rest of the

material. Most materials of the plant origin consist of about 70% volatile material. When
heated to temperatures above 2500C this volatile material escapes from the biomass. The

non-volatile part that remains behind is the charcoal. This separation of the biomass into

volatile and non- volatile parts is called pyrolysis.

When wood or woody biomass is used as household fuel part of the volatile

material burns producing the typical yellow flame but the volatile do not burn completely

so that a part of them also produce smoke which contains tar benzapyrenes, acetone etc.

some of the volatiles also condense on the walls and on the vessels as soot. If the smoke

is inhaled it can cause cancer because of the tar and the benzapyrenes in them therefore

wood fire is considered to be environmentally polluting. Charcoal on the other hand

consists mainly of carbon. When charcoal burns it just glows but it does not produce a

flame because it does not have any volatile in it. The combustion product of charcoal is

carbon dioxide and ash neither of which is harmful.

The traditional charcoaling kiln could not however be used for producing

charcoal from low density biomass because the charcoal from such material crumbles

under moderate pressure and once it gets mixed with ash it becomes very difficult to

separate the ash from the coal powder. In addition the conventional charcoaling process is

environmentally polluting because the volatiles produced in the process are released into

the atmosphere. The biomass is filled into metallic barrels with tightly fitting lids. The

lids have one hole each. These barrels are loaded upside down into upper compartment of

the kiln and a small fire is built in the lower compartment underneath the barrels. The

heat of the fire gasifies the volatile part of the biomass and the gas escapes from the holes
in the lid and burns underneath the barrels adding heat to complete the process of

pyrolysis. Because the biomass is enclosed in barrels it does not come in contact with

oxygen and therefore it does not burn and also des not produce any ash. One can thus get

pure charcoal without admixture of ash. Also because the volatiles are burned in the kiln

itself this process of charcoal is less polluting than the traditional charcoaling process.

Technically this type of kiln is called an oven-and-retort kiln. This required

standardization of the size of the barrels as well as of the height of the kiln so that the

barrels could be easily loaded and unloaded manually by a single person. The kiln

accommodated 7 barrels at a time. In order to save time between consecutive batches one

uses 14 barrels so tar while one set of the barrels is being pyrolysed another set is filled

with fresh biomass and kept ready it takes about 40 min. to pyrolyse one load and each

load produces about 7kg charcoal. Thus a team of two or three workers working from

sunrise to sunset can complete about 15 batches and produce about 100 kg charcoal daily.

Survey of the world

1.1 Sugarcane trash as raw material :-

Although this process can be used for charring any biomass the most abundantly

available agricultural residue in Maharashtra is represented by dry leaves of sugarcane

called sugarcane trash. This is the material that is left behind in the field after sugarcane

has been harvested. The leaves are highly lignified and rich in silica. Therefore they are

useless as cattle fodder the leaves are about a meter long and because they interfere with
all subsequent agricultural operations in the field the farmer just burn them in the field

itself. Each hectare of sugarcane produces about 10 tones of trash. Maharashtra has

450,000 hectares under sugarcane cultivation and therefore one can estimate that about

4.5 million tones of trash are just burned in the field every year. By using the process

described above it is possible to convert this trash into charcoal. Taking into

consideration the small amount of trash that would be burned as fuel in kiln sugarcane

trash has the potential of producing annually 900,000 tones of charcoal in Maharashtra.

As stated above this charcoal crumbles into powder under moderate pressure. The

powder is mixed with a binder such as starch paste and extruded into briquettes. The

briquettes have a calorific value of about 5000 to 5500 kcal/kg and they burn cleanly just

like charcoal.

1.2 Economic Considerations :-

The sugarcane harvesting period in Maharashtra extends over about 25 weeks .A

family can produce about 15 tones of charcoal in this period. The work of charring is

carried on for 6 days in a week. On the seventh day they operate the extruder and convert

the char into briquettes which are spread on the ground to dry under open sky. It takes the

next 6 days for the briquettes to dry during which period the next lot of charcoal is

produced. One kiln would require the trash from about 7 hectares which would be easily

available in any village in the sugarcane growing region. The process is economically

viable. Only if it is operated on a family scale by a farmer. Farmers do not take any salary
for themselves. Also at this scale there are no overheads like salaries of watchmen,

managers or accountants. There is also no expenditure on insurance.

The raw material is free of cost. Therefore whatever price the farmer gets for his

briquettes represents net profit for him. We have recommended a price of rs.5 per kg for

the briquettes based on which a family operating a single kiln can earn about us. 75,000

during this period which is a very good income for a rural family.

1.3 Marketing the briquettes:-

About 60 years ago charcoal was the preferred domestic fuel in the cities. But

about because charcoal is made from tree trunks and branches. Government of India

made kerosene available to the citizens at a very low cost in order to save trees. But about

2 years ago the subsidy on kerosene was withdrawn so that kerosene that used to cost

about Rs. 4 /liter now costs about Rs. 13 per liter. The urban poor, who were dependent

on kerosene’s their domestic fuel have now reverted back to using charcoal and wood.

The briquettes manufactured by our process can be used as domestic fuel because they

burn cleanly without producing smoke or soot. To use this fuel more rationally, The Sarai

system today costs about Rs. 550 but the price would come down to about Rs.300/ piece,

if the system is mass produced. It is estimated that a family would required about 400 g

of briquettes per day costing about Rs. 750 to 1000. Those families that use kerosene told

us that they required one liter per day.

 1.4 Benefits of using char briquettes:-

This process uses a raw material that has no other use and which is traditionally

just burned in the field itself. The raw material is renewable. The charring process is

environmentally cleaner than the traditional charcoaling process. The process has the

potential of generating annually Rs. 45 billion in the rural areas of Maharashtra. It

provides the urban poor with a cleanly burning, renewable and cheap domestic fuel. The

use of fuel would reduce the pressure on wood charcoal, which in turn would save our

forest wealth.

1.5 Fuel briquettes from light Agro waste:-

Because most agricultural species are herbaceous agricultural waste is generally

in the form of leaves and thin stems. The act of threshing also results in generating

powdery agro waste. Agro waste in these forms cannot be used as fuel in a wood burning

stove but it can be converted into charcoal briquettes by using a charring kiln based on

the oven and retort system. The charcoal produced in this kiln is powdered mixed with a

suitable binder and extruded into char briquettes.

Sarai stove-cooker system:-

User friendly biogas technology and the traditional biogas technology based on

cattle dung are useful only to families having at least 6 to 8 heads of cattle. Because of
the low rate of gas generation /unit mass of dung and long retention time of about 40 days

the smallest domestic digester has a volume of about 2000litres. Feeding daily about

40kg cattle dung into the digester and disposing of daily about 80kg of effluent slurry is a

great bother. The new biogas plant developed by ARTI is much more users friendly.

Having a capacity of 1000litres it uses daily just 2kg of starchy agro waste( e.g. rhizomes

of banana , cannas, nut grass), non-edible seeds (e.g. Luciana, Sesbainia , tamarind,

mango, kernels, spoilt grain) oilcake of no edible oilseeds (pongamia, madhuka, castor)

or leftover food. Its reaction time is fast just a few hours. It produces just a couple of

liters of watery effluent that is easy to dispose of.

 CHAPTER - II

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

BIOMASS POTENTIOAL AND CONVERSION

The reason for utilizing biomass and bio-wastes as energy sources are

numerous. Some of the obvious ones are,

1. Non fossil forms of fixed carbon are not deplete able in contrast to fossil

fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal.

2. Biomass is available in large quantities and in large quantities and

provides a raw material for conversion to synfuels.

3. Combining agro-waste disposal and energy recovery, process offers

recycling opportunities as well as improved disposal technology often at lower cost.

4. The synthetic fuel industry based on biomass is independent of foreign

price controls and regulations.

5. Technological breakthrough is not required for developing commercial

systems and processes.

6. Biomass can be regenerated.

 2 .1 : BIOMASS POTENTIAL:

Biomass can be classified into three groups:

1. Land Based Biomass : Trees, Plants and Grass.

2. Water Based Biomass : Single Cell algae, multi-cell algae and aquatic

plants.

3. Bio-Residue : Agricultural residue, manure, urban refuse, wood

waste from Industries, industrial and municipal sewage etc.

Forests are often in remote or inaccessible location making it uneconomical to

extract wood purely for energy purpose unless retail value is high. This economical

difficulty could be substantially decreased by combining the harvesting of wood for

timber and for energy purpose. Logging operations produce large quantities of residues

(branches, stumps, thinning and diseased wood) which can account for up to one- third of

the total timber that is cut. Much of this residue is currently wasted, but if converted to

charcoal or producer gas, for example, could provide a substantial quantity of energy. It

is estimated that the worlds annual use of energy is only 1/10 th of the annual

photosynthesis energy storage

2 .2 : CROP RESIDUES AND WASTES:

Wastes are materials for which no application has yet been found, whereas

residues are often of value for a number of applications. For example, agricultural

residues and manure are often returned to the soil as fertilizer and to omprove soil

structure. About 0.3 – 0.8 tonnes/acre of residue is essential for supplying nutrients and

organic matter [ 2 ] for development of plant.

 In agricultural production there are residues which could be utilized in several

ways : as fodder, land supplements, fibre and fuel. The potential of these residues has not

been systematically analysed so quantity is calculated via. Estimates of the ratio of by-

product to main crop yield for each crop type from the relation between main crop and

by-product . Table – I shows relation of main product to by-product for different

agricultural [ 3 ].

TABLE -I : RELATION OF MAIN PRODUCT TO BY-PRODUCT

FOR DIFFERENT AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Product Main Product By-Product Ratio of

Main product

to By-Product

Rice Grain Straw 1:1.4

Sorghum Grain Straw 1:1.4

Barley Grain Straw 1:1.2

Wheat Grain Straw 1:1.3

Maize Grain Straw 1:1.0

Bean Grain Straw 1:2.1

Peanut Nut Stalk 1:1.0

Sugarcane Sugar Bagasse 1:1.16

 Table –II shows the potential of the Bio-residue for generating energy [4]. Table –

II shows that 31, 33745 x 10 tones of agricultural residue is available for energy

production in the world. Asia has an annual residue potential of 1.4 Gt which is about

44% of the total agricultural residue in the world. Africa and Latin America produce far

less residue.

Table - II: AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES IN WORLD

(103 TONNES/YEAR)

Product/ Africa Asia Latin North Europe USSR Oceania World

Country America America

Wheat 12047 229085 27195 124970 167970 98800 24538 678187
Rice 12015 6064476 23586 11929 2743 10 921 657943
Maze 22201 10157 51742 218437 60264 13000 549 449225
Sorghum 12603 30502 22793 41083 770 280 2639 100377
Sugar-cane 9592 48835 64746 25280 49 ---- 4226 131008
Barley 4398 19182 1482 28651 95342 5460 7271 205962
Peanut 3832 13840 846 2196 24 2 60 20611
Other 85672 318834 85482 136753 137345 19609 6882 890402

Residues

About 32.5 x 1010 J useful energy can be obtained from the biomass residues. All

residues shown in Table – II can be best utilized for heat generation since that is the

application for which conversion efficiency is highest.

There are various estimates of the total quantum of biomass available in our

country. Table – III shows the potential of the annual agricultural waste in INDIA [5]
 TABLE – III: AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES IN INDIA

Statistical Data of Total Biomass available in Million tons:-

Type of Crop Agricultural Waste Estimated

Rice Husk 9.00

Timber Saw Dust 0.12

Maize Cobs 1.80

Groundnut Shell 1.80

Cotton Stalk 0.50

Pulses Stalk 1.00

Sugarcane Bagasse 14.50

Toppings 14.50

TOTAL 43.22

Approximately about 40 million tones of biomass can be used for energy

conversion. The study focuses attention on two of these biomass residues namely

sugarcane trash and sawdust.

Sugarcane growing countries produce a considerable amount of biomass residue

in the form of sugarcane trash green tops leaves, and bagasse. With depletion of resources

of fossil origin, the importance of these materials is growing especially because of their

renewable nature.

In developed countries, dry sawdust is used as heat insulator in walls and attics of

buildings and as absorptive material in floor sweeping compounds. As a source of

energy, this waste material has been traditionally used for domestic cooking and as fuel
in boilers. On account of their extremely small particle size, they need special types of

stoves and burners for effective and efficient utilization.

In sawmilling operation, sawdust accounts for 16% of the total gross volume of

logs processed. The study therefore concerns the design, development and fabrication of

low cost and efficient equipment and a process of continuously converting sawdust into

useful fuel gas.

2 -3 : BIOMASS CONVERSION :

Process for conversion of biomass to useful energy is divided generally into two

categories.

1. Biochemical

2. Thermochemical

2.3.1 : BIOCHEMICAL CONVERSION:

The complex structure of biomass can be

exploited by the use of living biological systems. The use of bacteria and yeasts in

aqueous suspension called fermentation is the principle technique. Ethyl alcohol, citric

acid from molasses and antibiotics from various nutrients are examples of chemicals

produced by fermentation. Among other product, gases from anaerobic digestion and

caustic or iron sponge digestion. The major environmental problem with anaerobic

digestion is the effluent form the digester. The digestion process removes carbon,

hydrogen and oxygen preserving the lignin and lignin protected organics, microbial

organics and mainly soluble in organics.

 Anaerobic digestion requires wither temperature of 30 to 37 deg. C for

mesophillic bacterial or temperature of 49-51 deg C for thermophillic bacterial [ 6 ].

Product gases are methane (60%) and carbon dioxide (40%). Due to presence of CO2, the

BTU value of the gas is low which can be increased by removing CO2.

Anaerobic digesters are capital intensive and require considerable advancements

in crop quality and conversion using low cost biotechnologies includes to meet bio-

energy industry requirements. Anaerobic digestion includes a complex biological process

that requires sophisticated controls, safety precautions and care in end use adaptations.

Fermentation technique is most suitable for the product containing low percentage

of lignin.

2.3.2: THERMOCHEMICAL CONVERSION

There are four different ways of thermo-chemical conversion.

a. Pyrolysis

b. Gasification

c. Liquidification

d. Direct Combustion.

PYROLYSIS:-

This process occurs along a continuum of controlled oxygen supply,

temperature and time of reaction. The products from these processes are various mixtures

of solids, liquids and gases. Pyrolysis is nothing but a thermal decomposition of organic

matter in vacuum or in an inert atmosphere. Pyrolysis of biomass readily occurs at

temperatures above 250o C. For biomass having size greater than 1 cm, the rate of
pyrolysis is controlled by the rate at which heat is conducted through the biomass. The

various by-products of the biomass are:

1) Char about 30-35 %

2) Gases about 15-20 %

3) Pyroligeneous liquids about 35650 %

On a short term basis, pyrolysis can only be envisaged a basic reaction for

processes leading to energy products such as natural gas and fuel oil substitutes and

charcoal. Quality of charcoal products depends on its chemical and physical properties.

These are highly related to the raw material, tree species and operating condition of the

pyrolysis process.

GASIFICATION:-

The aim of gasification is to transfer the combustion value of the

solid fuel to a gaseous energy carrier preferably in the form of chemical energy.

Gasification is performed because of the advantage of a gas over a solid fuel. Gases arer

easy to clean, transport and combust with a low excess o air and there is little resulting

pollution.

Char gasification is relatively slow at temperatures below about 800 0 C. Reactions

between char and H2O or CO2 are strongly endothermic hence energy requirement are

usually met b injecting O2 and sacrificing reactants. Gas solid surface reactions are

important in the operating range of 750o C to 1000 o C.

The gas consists of mainly CO, H2, N2, CO2, steam and hydrocarbons. The

combustion of the gas varies widely with the properties of the biomass, gasifying agent
and the process conditions. Heating value of gas vary between 3 and 33 MJ/Nm3. when

the biomass contains more water, more gasifying agent (air or O 2) is necessary because

water must be heated up and evaporated. A producer gas from biomasses contains

relatively high quantities of steam, hydrogen and nitrogen compared to a producer gas

from dry biomass.

If a reasonable gas quality is to be produced, depending on the reactor type,

moisture content upto 30-50 % on a wet basis is admissible. If air is the gasifying agent,

the producer gas contains 40-60 % of N 2. This can be decreased by using O 2 or

O2enriched air.

LIQUIFICATION :-

The liquid product is obtained after gasification is done under

high pressure and low temperature. Relatively high yields of liquids are obtained. The

liquid fraction resulting from the process is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons. Many of

these are known to be carcinogenic which are otherwise serious pollutants. The liquid

produced in large scale gasifiers are injected into the boilers system and combusted.

DIRECT COMBUSTION:-

Direct combustion is highly desirable conversion process

for biomass. Currently this process applied mainly to wood, straw and municipal solid

waste. This is a complex chemical process which is governed by fuel properties such as

proximate and ultimate analysis, higher heating value, moisture content, and specific
gravity. Process involves at a gross level, fuel particle heating and drying, pyrolysis, gas

phase reactions and gas solid reactions.

Biomass combustion can be reasonably efficient. With first thermodynamic law,

system efficiencies of 68-79 % can be achieved depending upon fuel moisture content,

combustor design, and combustor operation.

Flame temperature of 1100-1480o C can be achieved when combustion is

accomplished with low levels of excess air.

2.4 THERMOCHEMICAL ROUTE FOR SUGAR CANE TRASH

AND SAWDUST

2.4.1: PYROLYSIS OF SUGAR CANE TRASH

Sugar cane trash is generally left in the

field except for a minor amount collected as folder for ruminants. The ratio of sugar cane

trash to cane stalk depends heavily on cane variety and may be roughly estimated as 0.30

+/- 0.05. Since sugar cane trash contains about 75% of volatile matter, thermo-chemical

method is most suitable for utilization of trash.

Barrel type continuous carbonizer, a laboratory model is designed and fabricated

for carbonization of pulverized trash. Capacity of this unit is 1 kg/hr. Yields are volatiles

and powered charcoal. Volatile can be burned to sustain the process.

2.4.2: GASIFICATION OF SAW DUST

 Numbers of agricultural residues have thickness less than 1.mm can be reduced in

size with simple pulverizes. These are termed as light biomass and are found suitable for

fast pyrolysis.

A laboratory, compact and economical, unit heated tube gasfier, is designed and

developed. The unit consists of a vertical ceramic tube and hopper for feeding saw dust at

the upper end of ceramic tube. Sawdust is fed through the ceramic tube which passes

closely to the wall of ceramic tube. Air required for the gasification is passed in the

ceramic tube at the upper end. Saw dust is controlled by feeder passes through a ceramic

tube and gets rapidly pyrolysed gasified.

CHAPTER – III
 PYROLYSIS AND GASIFICATION

Pyrolysis means decomposition of organic matter in vacuum or in an inert

atmosphere. Pyrolysis products are charcoal, a condensable liquid or pyroligeneous liquid

and gaseous products. The relative propositions of these products depend on the chemical

composition of biomass used and on the operational conditions. Pyrolysis process can be

explained by considering the chemical composition of wood.

3.1 : CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WOOD.

Wood is vegetal organic matter which can be represented by the empirical

formulae CH1.44 O 0.66 . Considering the structure, wood is composed of dead and living

plant cells, the structure and composition of which depend on the different parts and

species of the plant. The green leaves consisting of living cells contain some proteins,

considerable water and less cellulogic cell wall materials. The woody tissues are

essentially composed of dead cells. The main components of the cell wall are cellulogic,

micro fibrils embedded in a matrix of hemicelluloses and lignin. Other minor components

such as lipids, hydrocarbons soluble in either and various phenolic compounds soluble in

benzene, alcohol or water can also be found, but they are more abundant in leaves than in

wood tissues.

In addition to these organic components wood also contains inorganic substances

which as residues (Ash) after ignition at high temperature. Ash composition is mainly

CaO (50%), K2O (20%), MgO, Fe2O3, P2O5 and these compounds play a catalytic role in

some reactions.

Wood is constituted mainly of cellulose component is the same in all type of

biomass, except for the degree of polymerization which can also vary slightly even in the
most uniform sample. The average molecular weight is 1, 00,000 AMU. Hemi cellulose

is mixtures of polysaccharides composed almost, 4-0 methyl glucose acid. Generally they

are of much lower molecular weight (30,000 AMU) than cellulose and some are

branched. In contrast to cellulose, the hemicelluloses are amorphous.

Lignin is a randomly linked, amorphous, high molecular weight phenolic

compound. It is more abundant and has a higher degree of polymerization in soft woods.

The content of these three components is variable and depends mainly on the tree

species. The cellulose content for most deciduous and coniferous trees varies between 40

% and 45 % but each can reach 55% for some. For the deciduous trees, hemicelluloses

represent 20 % to 35 % of total mass. For the coniferous trees, there is 20 % to 35 % of

total mass. For the coniferous trees there is 20 5 to 40 5 hemicelluloses. The ligin content

is 24 % to 30 % for coniferous trees and 17 % to 24 % for deciduous trees.

3.1.1.: INFLUENCE OF SPACIES ON PYROLYSIS PRODUCT YIELD.

The yield of the different reaction products varies with the species, which can be

seen in Table –I. Table shows the average values and their range obtained for about 20

different dexciduous tree samples pyrolysed under the same operational conditions.

TABLE – I YEILD IN PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS FOR 20

DECIDUOUS TREE SPECIES.

 ____

PRODUCT AVERAGE RANGE

YEILD %

CHARCOAL 42.70 37.0 – 50.4

TAR 9.4 4.2 – 11.4
PYROLIGENEOUS 33.7 30.7 – 36.5
-ACID

The differences are greater between deciduous and coniferous trees, as shown in

TABLE – II

TABLE-II: YEILD ACCORDING TO WOOD SPECIES,

DECIDUOUS AND CONIFEROUS

PRODUCT CONIFEROUS TREES DECIDUOUS TREES

PINE SPURCE BIRTH
BEECH

CHARCOAL 37.8 37.8 31.8 35.0

TAR 11.8 8.1 7.9 8.1
GAS 14.7 14.9 14.0 15.8
CH3COOH 3.5 3.2 7.1 6.0
CH3OH 1.0 0.9 1.6 2.1
H2O 22.3 25.7 27.8 26.7

Thus pyrolysis can be considered as a chemical pretreatment of biomass leading

to intermediate compounds to be separated or redefined.

3.2: EFFECT OF OPERATING PARAMETERS ON PYROLYSIS

PRODUCTS:-
 The operational conditions acting on the yeold of the process products are,

heating rate, residence time of the reaction products, temperature used and pressure.

A rise in temperature increases the intrinsic rate of all chemical and physical

phenomena considered. The operating temperature also determines the equilibrium

composition of the gas [1]. In general temperature is determined by the quality of the

fuel, the ratio of the actual carbon supply of that required for combustion, and the heat

losses from reactor.

Pressure is also a major variable; it favorably influences the absolute rate of

reaction heat and mass transfer and modifies the equilibrium relation ships in favor of

CH4 and O2.

Residence time is a major parameter in thermal cracking reactions in the free

board zone of fluidized bed reactor. The residence time of the solids is normally

controlled by the flow rate of the air. The residence time can be decreased however, by

enhancing the ash extraction rate. But at cost of higher carbon losses in the residue. Joint

production of gas and charcoal is possible by this method.

Figure –I shows the product distribution as a function of heating rate, residence

time and reaction temperature. The yield of volatiles increases with the heating rate, but

for the highest temperatures, the condensations (tar) are cracked and the gas content is

increased. The char yield is maximum for low heating rates, low temperature and long

residence time.

Figure-I also shows the influence of pressure on the three main reaction products.

The decreasing pressure leads to decreasing residence, time of the volatile products.
Increase in the tar yield at medium temperatrure with low pressures has been

experimentally confirmed [2].

3.4.2: BASIC PRINCIPLE:-

Pyrolysis is the basic reaction of all thermal conversions of biomass. A good

knowledge of its mechanism should allow improvements in the yields and selectivity of

the carbonization process. Basically this is a thermal decomposition of biomass.

Initially at temperatures less than 300 oC the dominant processes are; the

reduction of molecular weight., the appearance of free radicals, the elimination of water

and formation of carbonyl and carbonyl groups which are assumed to give rise to out

gassing of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The final product is a charred residue.

The structure of which is mainly that of crystalline cellulose. When wood is pyrolysed at

a low heating rate, the following sequence of events occurs [3].

1) At around 160 oC removal of moisture occurs the rate peaks at around 130
o
C and drops to negligible levels by 200-280 oC.

2) Over the temperature range 200-280o C, all of the hemicellulose

decomposes yielding predominantly volatile products (CO, CO2 an condensable vapors)

3) From 280 – 500 o C cellulose which has already undergone through some

chemical transformation, decomposes at an increasing rate which reaches at maximum

around 320o C. The first and second steps are endothermic while the third is exothermic.

Thus when the pyrolysis process has entered the exothermic phase, no more outside
o
heating is required and the temperature slowly climbs until it reaches between 400-450

C.
11.4.1 : CHEMICAL REACTIONS :-

The two main chemical reactions occurs in the pyrolysis process are as follows:-

Cn Hm = CH4 + C + H + TARS

C + 2H2 = CH4

Although the overall process of pyrolysis appears simple, the sequence of

reactions is complex and involves both endothermic and exothermic processes, whose

thermodynamics and kinetics are not well understood. Pyrolysis of biomass readily

occurs at temperatures above 250o C. With particle greater than about 1 cm in size, heat

conduction is the rate controlling step and char production is about 40%. The process is

mildly endothermic.

Heat is transferred to the solid from the gaseous surrounding by conduction,

radiation and convection. Initial main mechanism to transfer the heat to the interior of the

solid is conduction. Once decomposition starts, volatile give rise to convection heat

transfer from the hotter solid, closer to the surface [4]. The porous structure of the solid

plays a fundamental role in determining the extent of heat transfer between gas and solid

within the particle. It has been suggested that primary pyrolysis has a very low enthalpy

of reaction, whereas the major part of the heat released by the reactions is due secondary

pyrolysis [5].

11.5 : REACTOR DESIGN:-

In practice, it is relatively easy to monitor the temperature, pressure and even

residence time, but it is more difficult to control the heating rate. It depends on two main

factors viz, the type of reactor and the biomass particle size. For a given reactor, with
increasing particle size, the conductivity of wood being low, the heating rate inside the

particle decreases and changes the yield of the three major products. For a given particle

size, the reactor type will determine the mode of heat transfer since radiation. Convection

and conduction vary according to the type of reactor.

Radioactive heat transfer has a lesser role than convective and conductive

transfer, in the range of 20-1000o C used in the majority of pyrolysis processes. In

addition, a given reactor can not pyrolysis particles of random size, for example, fluidized

bed reactor cannot treat large particles. Villermux [6] performed a systematic study of gas

and solid reactions, which can also be to categorize the pyrolysis process.

There are three main types of reactors usable for pyrolysis process, viz.

1) Liquid is best produced using a transported bed reactor with low

temperature, high heating rate and short residence time.

2) Charcoal is produced by using stacking kilns], multiple hearths knils,

rotary kilns with low temperature, low heating rate and more residence time.

3) Gas is produced by means of fluidized bed, circulating bed and even

cyclonic reactors, with high temperature and high heating rate.

In general design involves,

i) The estimation and selection of processing system to convert specified raw

materials into desired products.

ii) Size of the processing system based on analysis of rate process and on

experimental work.

iii) The detailed engineering specification of selected processing systems.

 11.5 : GASIFICATION PROCESS

11.5.1 : BASIC PRINCIPLE

The aim of gasification process is to transfer the combustion value of the solid

fuel to a gaseous energy carrier preferably in the form of chemical energy and not in the

form of sensible heat.

Gasification is performed because of the advantages of gas over a solid fuel.

Gases are easy to clean, easy to transport and to combust with a low excess of air and

there is a little resulting pollution. Further more, gases can be burnt in the internal

combustion engine (turbine) and can be easily applied in combined cycles.

Biomass gasification can also be carried out via. Biological gas conversion.

Thermochemical route have the advantage of compact equipment due to the relatively

short residence time required (1-10 sec), easy start up, stable operation and there are no

requirements on the nutrient value of the feedstock.

Thermochemical route consists of following steps,

1) Partial oxidation of biomass by a gasifying agent, usually air or O 2. Part of the

biomass is combusted to CO2 and steam.

2) Heating up of the biomass and evaporation of water.

3) Pyrolysis via further increase in temperature of the biomass. This decomposition

process takes between 150 o C and 500 o C, and results in the formation of char and gaseous

products. The most important components of the gas are water vapors, CO, CO 2, H2,

hydrocarbons and acetic acid.

11.5.2 : CHEMICAL REACTIONS:-

 The reaction mechanism is dependent on the process conditions [ 7 ]. Reduction

of gaseous components produced during process, by strong endothermic reactions. Char

is converted in to carbon monoxide and also reduced to CH4.

C + CO2 = 2 CO

C + H2O = CO + H2

C + 2H2 = CH4

The result is a gas consisting mainly of CO, H2, N2, and CO2, steam and

hydrocarbons. The composition of this gas varies widely with properties of biomass, the

gasifying agent and the process conditions. Heating values may be different vary between

3- 33 MJ/Nm3. If air is the gasifying agent, the producer gas contains 40-60 % volume of

N2 – this can be decreased by using O2 or O2 enriched air – Differences in the process

conditions are mainly dependent on the reactor type.

11.6 : THE ROLE OF CATALYIST IN GASIFICATION.

The catalytic gasification

is attractive because of the following reasons,

1) Increase in conversion rates giving higher throughputs.

2) Lower reaction temperatures giving greater efficiency and requiring

cheaper materials of construction, especially if indirect heat transfer is applied.

3) Cracking of tars which often simplifies gas treatment and improves

efficiency.
 4) Realizing a product composition that is more suitable for a particular

application, such as methane rich, hydrogen rich, optimal for methanol synthesis or for

ammonia synthesis.

Catalysts that increase the rate of solid gasification are called primary catalysts.

Catalysts that affect product gas composition are called secondary catalysts. Primary

catalysts are particularly important in low temperature gasification if methane is the

desired product. The most challenging application for catalyst for biomass gasification is

probably in steam gasification for methanol production. The steam gasification is

relatively attractive because of the opportunity to avoid an expensive plant but it

normally produces a gas of un-favorable composition for methanol, being rich in CH2. and

tars. Generally oxygen and steam are used for high CO, high H2 gases with low nitrogen.
 Fig: BRIQUETTED FROM SUGER CANE TRASH CHARCOAL

Briquetted Charcoal from Sugarcane Trash

Dry leaves, left in field after harvest of sugarcane, are called trash. On an average,

a hectare of sugarcane generates about 10 tonnes of trash. Because it has no value as

cattle fodder, and because it also r in this process. Each batch, taking about 40 min to

complete,

esists decomposition, the trash is burnt in situ, in order to clear the field for the

next crop. It is estimated that in the state of Maharashtra, more than 4,000,000 tonnes of

trash are destroyed in this way. Pyrolysing the trash and converting it into fuel briquettes,

can be a very profitable, small scale, rural business.

The Process:

The charring kiln, a portable cylindrical structure, about 150 cm wide and

100 cm tall) made out of sheet iron is placed in the field where sugarcane harvest is in

progress.

The trash is filled into cylindrical metal containers 37.5cm wide and 60 cm tall.

The kiln takes 7 such containers at a time. All containers together accommodate

21 kg trash.
 After loading the containers into the kiln, the top of the kiln is closed with sheet

metal lid, which is provided with a chimney.

About 10 kg trash are burnt underneath the containers (in the kiln) to start the

process of pyrolysis. The heat of the trash burning underneath the containers pyrolyses

the trash in the container. Pyrolysis gas generated in the process leaves the containers

through holes in their bottom, and it too burns, to serve as additional fuel produces about

7 kg char (30% of the trash filled in the barrels).Three workers can simultaneously

operate

two kilns to produce about 80-100 kg char daily .The char is powdered, mixed

with a suitable binder ,and shaped, with the help of a mold into briquettes. Our mold

allows one person to produce daily about100 kg briquettes .The briquettes are laid out in

the sun for drying.

Economic considerations

For a family-owned enterprise:

The capital cost of two kilns with a set of 28 containers, and a small briquetting

machine is about Rs.50,000 (USD 1250).

A family unit of 3 persons can produce daily 100 kg briquettes. The briquettes

have a ready market in towns, where a cheap and cleanly burning fuel is in demand. An

NGO, SHG or a cooperative has to arrange the marketing of the briquettes in the

neighbouring townships. The family making the briquettes can thus earn daily Rs.800-
1000 (USD 20-25), which is equivalent to the income of an urban middle class family.

Use can be made of other agricultural waste material such as stems of cotton, pigeonpea,

safflower,

wheat and rice straw, maize cobs, or leaf litter from any plantation crop like

rubber, cashew, mango, papaya, palms, etc. Wood can also be converted into charcoal

using this unit. If wood is used as the raw material, there is no need for converting into

briquettes.

If the 16 weeks of the rainy (monsoon) season are excluded, such a unit can work

for about 36 weeks in a year, earning about Rs.200,000 (USD 5000). The metallic kilns

and barrels would however eventually burn out. Even assuming total replacement of

these items every year, the profit from this operation would be annually Rs.150,000 or

more than Rs.10,000 per month, which is a very good income by Indian rural standards.

For mass production:

This business can also be conducted by an entrepreneur, who invests about

Rs.500,000 in 20 kilns, a large capacity extruder and a shed. He gives two kilns each to

10 families, who make charcoal from whatever waste biomass that is locally available.

The entrepreneur buys the char from them at a price of Rs.3 per kg. Within a working

period of 200 days a year, the entrepreneur can get about 200 tonnes of char, which, after

converting into briquettes, can be sold at a wholesale price of Rs.2,000,000 (USD 50000)

After deducting depreciation on the equipment, bank charges, operating expenses and

overheads, the entrepreneur is left with a net annual profit of about Rs.1,000,000 (USD

25000).
 Note: This profit has been calculated on the assumption that the briquettes would

be sold by the operators at Rs.10 per kg. The retail price in Pune is Rs.15 per kg. have

burnt themselves out and the fire has extinguished itself.

The cooking system is so designed that the food remains warm upto two hours, if

the vessel is not opened. The cost of Sarai Cooking System is Rs.500 (about USD 12).

The convenience of use and the low cost of fuel are the main attractions for the users.
 Fig:A handy kiln for making charcoal.

There are about 5000 families in Pune who use the Sarai cooking system on a

daily basis and this has generated a monthly demand for about 5 tonnes of char briquettes

in Pune city alone.

Fig:A small Briquatting Machine
Fig:Sarai cooker for cooking system
 Fig:Briquettes from agricultural waste

Product Cost:

1. Charring Kiln (ex factory, transport charges extra): Rs 20,000

2. Briquetting Machine (ex factory, transport charges extra): Rs 10,000

3. Briquetting Molds Pair (ex factory, transport charges extra): Rs 500

4. Char Briquettes: In Pune - Rs. 15 per kg

Elsewhere in India (M.R.P. inclusive of taxes and transport) - Rs. 20 per kg

5. Sarai Cooking System (M.R.P. inclusive of taxes and transport anywhere in

India)

For 8 lit capacity: Rs. 800

For 12 lit capacity: Rs. 1000

 CHAPTER – III

PYROLYSIS STUDIES

INTRODUCTION:-

Although the overall pyrolysis process simple the sequence of reaction is complex

and involves both endothermic and exothermic process. The overall process can be

broadly classified in to primary and secondary stages [1]. The quantity of the charcoal

produced by carbonization depends on its chemical and physical properties. These are

highly related to the raw material, type of biomass, and operating conditions of pyrolysis

process.

Among the properties which characterize charcoal, the most significant seem to

be –

a. Yield : Expressed as a percentage, as a ratio of the weight of charcoal to

that of the dry material.

b. Content of volatiles: The weight loss per unit weight of charcoal when

charcoal is heated at 900o C under vacuum or in an inert atmosphere.

c. Fixed Carbon Content: The dry charcoal weight minus weight of volatiles

and ash per weight of charcoal.

 Carbonizers currently available are either small or batch type for distributed

residues. Other designs which aim at large out puts are stationary plants. Sugar cane trash

poses a peculiar problem: it is very light, bulky and difficult to transport. However, it is

available in very large quantity ( 18 million tones) distributed over thousand of hectors.

So neither small batch type nor large stationary plants meet the requirements of

carbonization of sugarcane trash (S.C.T).

It is an established fact that a continuous process is always more economical than

a batch process. In order to design BARREL TYPE CONTINUOUS CARBONIZER

FOR carbonization of S.C.T, first pyrolysis parameters such as temperature, heating rate,

residence time and pyrolysis ambient were changed systematically and yield was

measured. From these data, carbonization parameters were selected for designing of

carbonizer.

111.1 : OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS.

The par meters which control the yield recovery in the pyrolysis process are –

I The heating rate (thermal flux)

II Residence time of the reaction products.

III The highest temperature used for the pyrolysis and

IV The pressure of the air /ambient.

The experimental set up used to determine process parameters for pyrolysis of

S.C.T is shown in the figure-I. it consists of a muffle furnace fitted with the stainless steel

tube of 100 cm length and 4.5 cm diameter. Both the ends of this tube are closed. The

sample is placed in a cylindrical box which can be opened on one side. For measuring
temperature of a opened on one side. For measuring temperature of a sample, chromel-

alumel thermocouple is fitted at the centre of the sample holder. The holder is mounted

on a movable rod so that sample can be shifted from cold zone to hot zone by pushing

this rod inside. A gas inlet is provided on one side and exhaust volatile matter is provided

on the other side.

About 2-3 gms of S.C.T is placed in a sample holder. Initially the sample is kept

in a cold zone, then the furnace is heated to desired temperature. The temperature of the

furnace is controlled with the help of dimmer stat. When the desired temperature is

reached, the sample is inserted into hot zone for specified time. The sample is again

moved back to the cold zone. After cooling, it is moved from the holder. After each step

of carbonization, the yield recovery and higher heating value (HHV) were measured.

The energy is defined as the energy which can be derived from the char after

carbonization. It is given as

Energy recovered= Energy obtained from Char

Energy obtained from trash

= Yield X HHV of Char

HHV of trash

When the oven is dried biomass is heated with constant temperature rise, the

volatile matters are removed. The rate of devolatization depends on the type of biomass,

rate of heating and the ambient. In order to choose temperature range over which

carbonization could be carried out, devolatization rate was studied as follows.

 A weighed sample was kept in the pan was enclosed in a furnace. The

temperature of the furnace was raised at a constant rate (4 0 C/min). The furnace was

flushed with nitrogen. The rate of flow of nitrogen was kept 300 ml/min. The loss of

weight was continuously recorded as thermal decomposition/pyrolysis of the S.C.T took

place. Figure-2 shows the loss of weight with temperature. It is observed from this figure

that.

i. Weight loss is slow upto 3000 C.

ii. Weight loss increase at faster rate between temperature 300 to 4500 C.

iii. After 4500 C, the area of the weight loss reduces and after the temperature

6500 C weight remains constant.

These observations imply that most of the volatile matter goes out in the

temperature range 300 – 5000 C. Initial weight loss is only due to the moisture

evaporated form the sample. Hence we have varied the temperature of carbonization form

300 to 4500 C.

Figure – 3 shows the Coper mountain pyrolysis model. The dotted line indicates

the process path of carbonization of S.C.T. From the experimental results following

conclusions can be drawn.

1) The yield in general decreases as the carbonization temperatures as well as

residence time increases. The observation in valid for carbonization in ambient

temperature. Time-temperature variation of yield for ambient air is shown in figure -4.

2) The energy recovery also decreases with temperatures and time. These

observations are summarized in figure – 5.

 However the energy recovery more strongly depend on the temperature than time.

We can from the figure – 5 that recovery decreases faster when temperature increased.

This is due to the fact that certain volatile matters especially liginin do not decompose at

low temperature.

3) The HHV of the char, though higher then the trash, does not change

appreciably with time or temperature. The HHV of S.C.T is 16.46 MJ/Kg where as the

average HHV of char is 21.09 MJ/Kg.

S.C.T contains about 73% volatile matter. The carbonization process is complex

when the decomposition of cellulise, hemi cellulise and liginin has began in such a way

that the initial atomic arrangement is totally change giving out some volatile matter. Thus

when yield in 45%, the carbonization process is complete. Further heating will remove

some of the carbon, reducing carbon content, in the char as well energy recovery. Hence

carbonization in the air ambient can be done under following conditions for maximum

energy recovery and quality.

AMBIENT TEMPERATURE RANGE RESIDENCE TIME

AIR 315-3650 C 2 – 6 min

Time temperature regions over which carbonization can be done efficiently are

shown in the figure -4 by shaded region.

 Thus for The Continuous Carbonizer, temperature and residence eime must be

maintained in the above region in order to complete pyrilysis of S.C.T. The average yield

and recovery in this region are 45% and 57% respectively for air ambient.

III.2: DESIGN OF THE CARBONIZER :-

Salient features and some important dimensions of the laboratory modle are

shown in figure- . Essentially it is a vertical barrel of 20 cm diameter x 20 cm height

with a rotating cone inside the barrel. Vertical barrel is closed by cover plate of 7 mm

thickness. Polished shaft ( 25 mm dia.) is held in bearing and is rotated by level gear by

hand crank shaft.

At the lower end of the shaft, a cone of height 200 mm and 5 mm thickness is

fixed. For inside heating of/ barrel and igniting trash, a laboratory burner is used. It is

important to keep continuous ignition of trash inside the barrel. Asbestos cloth is used to

cover outer wall of barrel to minimize heat losses. After a number of variations and trials,

the essential requirements for continuous carbonization are well understood. For

example,

i. Size of the trash should be reduced to 2-3 cm.

ii. For continuous feeding of trash, screw feeder did not work satisfactorily. So feed

was intermittently pushed with a ram.

iii. Vertical flow of trash in barrel for effective carbonization is slowed down and

arrested with horizontal platforms made from perforated MS sheet.

iv. The trash is also required to be distributed by vertical rake on rotating cone. These

devices have proved useful for obtaining good carbonization.

 For removal of char at the lower end of barrel, a ring is provided at the bottom of

the barrel which controls the width of passage for char. Projections on cone, by rotation,

force the char through the gap between ring and cone. Volatiles are required to be

removed rapidly out of the barrel to prevent volatile leakages at bottom. External air is

essential for partial combustion inside the barrel.

III.3 : WORKING OF THE CARBONIZER :-

In order to carbonize char continuously the essential steps required are as follows,

Trash is required to be pulverized so that length is conveniently small for

continuous feeding. Pulverized trash is intermittently fed by hand with a ram. This

pulverized trash which fed in to the barrel form top falls on the perforated horizontal

platform of rotating cone. The trash gets ignited due to the flame maintained by LPG

inside the barrel. The cone is rotated manually.

Partial burning of trash produces enough heat to maintain the temperature around

3000 C which requires for carbonizing the trash. The partly carbonized trash is agitated by

vertical rake. The carbonized trash being brittle breaks and falls on the second perforated

sheet through the holes in the top platform. The final char force in to the narrow space

between walls of barrel and rotating cone. Projections on rotating cone, steel balls help to

force the trash down the gap between adjustable ring at the bottom and rotating cone.

In the process of carbonization, volatiles are released in large quantities. Some

external air is also required, to partly burn the trash, so as to generate enough heat for

carbonization. An electric air blower is used to provide air as well as remove volatiles

from barrel.
 Char coming out at the bottom is non-sticking and is free flowing. Due the high

temperature maintained inside the barrel, there is no sticky tar deposition on any parts of

the carbonizer.

III-4 : EXPERIMENTAL

Initial stage of carbonization is shown in figure-6. it depicts the burner for

maintaining the ignition is kept in a MS pipe which is having 50 mm bore and inclined

through an angle of 30o to the vertical. Outlet for volatiles is provided through a pipe of

20 mm bore which is located at 135 mm from bottom.

Idea behind this design was that, pulverized S.C.T fed by screw feeder will be

distributed by rotating the cone and the charcoal powder can be obtained at the bottom of

the barrel. A thin M.S circular disc is fitted at the upper end of inclined pipe to keep

continuous ignition inside the barrel.

Some of the problems faced while operating this carbonizer are

1) It s difficult to keep continuous ignition because of the failing of little biomass on

the burner.

2) Volatiles come out from the bottom instead of coming through pipe.

3) Vertical flow of biomass is not under control.

4) Screw feeder does not work satisfactory.

RESULTS:-

After conducting several experiments we found that:-

i) Residue obtained was, unburned biomass of smaller size.

 ii) Burning of volatile is possible.

iii) Creation of suction, inside the barrel is necessary.

Modifications were done, to minimize the problems occurred:-

a) A vertical MS pipe is fitted to the top of barrel as an outlet for volatiles.

b) Position of flame and outgasing pipe were interchanged.

c) Air required for partial combustion is provided through an additional pipe of 20

mm bore which is fitted at the same level that of previous volatile outlet.

d) Four MS rods of helical shape are welded at different level on cone to control

vertical flow of S.C.T

OBSERVATIONS:-

i) Poor quality, charcoal powder was observed.

ii) Weight of the residue was about 75% that of biomass.

Some of the difficulties, while performing the experiments, were as follows.

1) Volatiles were coming through top vertical pipe as well as through bottom

of the barrel.

2) Vertical flow control was not satisfactory.

MODIFICATIONS :-

Design was modified to get rid of the above problem. Figure-7 shows the

modified design of carbonizer. Blower is used to suck volatiles, so that volatiles will not

come through the bottom. Welded rods are removed and two perforated sheets are fitted
on the cone. One more pipe of 20 mm bore, at the location of 50 mm form bottom of the

barrel, is fitted for one more burner flame to have a better carbonization rate.

Doing several experiments on this design by interchanging the position of air inlet

and gas flame. We got some considerable results, are tabulated in Table-I.

TABLE -1: QUALITY OF CHARCOAL AT DIFFERENT FEED RATE.

Sr No Weight of Time required in Weight of Quality of

biomass gm minutes charcoal in gms charcoal

1 450 60 200 Good
2 470 60 256 Slightly brown
3 667 60 325 Good
4 715 60 352 Good
5 1000 60 554 Slghtly brown

It is found that, quality of the charcoal depends on the velocity of air which is

used for suction. Vertical flow of S.C.T is well controlled by the perforated sheets.

Vertical rake is used to control the flow as well as to distribute trash properly. A ring is

provided at the bottom of the barrel to control the width of the passage for charcoal.
 CHAPTER-IV

HEAT TUBE GASIFIER

 INTRODUCTION

Thermochemical gasification is the conversation of biomass in to a gaseous

energy carrier by means of partial oxidation at high (=1000o C) temperatures. The gases

produced are applied mainly as a fuel gas for electricity generation and direct heating.

They can also be used as synthesis gas in the process industry to produce methanol or

ammonia. There are many cases in which gasification of biomass has advantages over

direct combustion of biomass or fossil fuel. For example small scale generation of

electricity can be done without the necessity of a steam cycle, simply by combustion of

the gas in a reciprocating engine. Another advantage is that the producer gas can be

cleaned in relatively compact units prior to combustion.

Biomass having an ash content less than 02% by weight and a moisture content

upto 30% by weight is generally suited for gasification [1]. The most widely applied

reactors for gasification of biomass are the Moving bed types and the fludized bed types.

Three sub types of moving types are Down- Draft, Up-Draft, and Cross-Draft reactors.

The fludized bed applied mainly for biomass having dimensions of 1-10 mm and ten

moving bed for 10-100 mm. the choice of a certain type is depended on many factors

such as biomass properties, desired gas composition, scale of operation and local

circumstances. For the design and operation, it is essential to know that the gasifier is a

thermal reactor, filled with combustible gases and is some times pressurized.

It is ideal to have all forms of biomass in a convenient and uniform physical

dimension so that design of any combustion device is simplified. Therefore obvious

choice would be to either briquette biomass in to ideal pallets of fixed dimension and

consistent density or to pulverize it in to a powdery form. Experiments conducted on this

line have shown that pulverization of the biomass would form an essential component for

achieving uniform pellets [2]. A preliminary economic evaluation of the process of

briquetting shows that it would be economically sensible to develop gasifier systems

which can directly use powdery biomass. This would not only eliminate the cost of

briquetting but would ensure the product versatility in terms of variety of inputs.

At the same time wood is a scare national resource and therefore it has to be

conserved to the maximum extant possible. However apart from the hard woody biomass,

there is abundance of other form of biomass. These includes site specific biomass like

saw dust, coir, pith etc or in general like rice husk, parthenium, leaves, grass etc.

Therefore if it is possible to make an efficient process, to utilize such biomass it would

also save fossil, fuel consumption like diesel.

A large number of light agricultural residues cannot be gasified in conventional

gasifiers due to material flow problem. All such material could be directly gasified with a

Heated tube. This is the principle used in tube gasfier.

IV.I : HEATED TUBE GASIFIER

IV.I.I : BASIC CONCEPT:-

The development of a successful fast pyrolysis technology for biomass offers a

product and process with the best features of conventional pyrolysis and air / oxygen

gasification. A major consideration for air gasification product applications is their

limitation to close coupled combustion related processes. Fast pyrolysis differentiates

from other processes with respect to temperature vapour residence times and end product.
o
Extremely rapid heating rates (200 to 10000 C/s) high temperatures than 0.5 s are

required to maximize the production of high quality gases [3].

 Number of laboratories abroad has conducted work on fast pyrolysis of biomass

in a heated tube, mostly directed to production of synthetic fuels.

In conclusion, the following general statements about fast pyrolysis in a heated

tube are offered for consideration and critical evaluation.

1. Fast pyrolysis in a heated tube promises high yields of concentrated high

quality intermediates, petrochemical syngas and fuel gas products from biomass. These

gases include olefins and other hydrocarbons.

2. Fast pyrolysis incorporates some of the best features associated with

conventional pyrolysis, flash pyrolysis and gasification without many of the related

advantages.

3. Fast pyrolysis of biomass is accompanied by-

i. Rapid heating rates,

ii. High temperature.

iii. Short vapour residence times.

iv. And rapid product quenching

It is found that at 1000 o C and a moderate pressure of 50 psi and residence times

of less than 3 s, mainly methane and carbon monoxide are formed in the almost

equimolar yields with almost all the carbon in the wood converted to product [4]. For the

future development of gasification following points are to be considered.

a) Necessity to utilize agricultural residues for gasification as wood would not be

available.

b) Requirements of small gasifiers for thermal applications for large kitchens,

bakeries etc to save wood.

 c) Requirement of gasifiers to utilize industrial waste in paper, rice and similar

industries for thermal applications.

From the above requirements two conclusions are drawn-

1. Work on heated tube gasifiers for powdery biomass (or soft fibrous

) may have greater field applications tha use of char.

2. Gasification for thermal applications would also be an important

area of use.

Fast pyrolysis of biomass and gasification of volatiles effectively becomes more

rapid as temperature increases beyond 850 o C. With electrical heating temperature of the

order of 1000O C can be easily maintained than with normal combustion. Ceramic or

stainless steel components can withstand a temperature beyond 1000O C withouit

corrosion problem.

If HTG is used for thermal applications, electrical supply must invariably be

available for electric heating. When HTG is used for IC engines, a small alternator would

be necessary as an auxiliary on IC engines.

The main advantages of HTG are as follows-

1) It is possible to utilize a large number of agricultural residues for

gasification for which it is difficult to design conventional gasifiers.

2) HTG due to its small size is expected to cost much less than conventional

gasifiers.

3) With HTG it would be possible to meet large numbers of thermal power

applications in the range of 20-500 kw thermal.

Capacity of HTG would depend upon following two factors –

1) Rate at which fuel could be introduced in the tube.

2) Rate at which it could be pyrolysised.

Agricultural residues can be divided in two classes.

a) Hard biomass such as stalks, pine needles etc.

b) Other residues such as sawdust, sugar cane trash, ground nut shell, straw etc.

These are termed as LIGHT BIOMASS. The light biomass is particularly suitable

for fast pyrolysis with HTG. It is seen that out of 18 important agricultural residues, 14

can be termed as light biomass and can be conveniently reduced in size fir HTG with a

simple pulverizer.

The unit comprises s vertical ceramic tube with 205 cm bore and 30 cm long. The

external surface of the ceramic tube is electrically heated to 1000O C temperature. A

central tube of diameter 1.4 cm is kept inside the ceramic tube. Air provision is made at

upper end of the ceramic tube. Sawdust is fed from the hopper fixed at the upper end of

the ceramic tube. Biomass gets rapidly pyrolysed and gasified. At the bottom end of the

ceramic tube a cavity is provided through pyrolysis products pass to outlet. Due to the

additional heating coil maintained at around 1000O C the gum foaming volatiles would be

cracked. Gas obtained is passed through a water cooled heat exchanger and fed to blower.

The gas emerging out of the blower burns nicely-

IV.1.2: DESIGN OF HTG

The primary is to design and fabricate a working laboratory model of HTG to

achieve gasification. Figure-1 shows schematic diagram of HTG, the unit consists of

following components.

a) Ceramic tube.
 b) Cavit at the bottom.

c) Hopper.

d) Cleaner / Cooler

e) Burner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONANTS:-

a) CERAMIC TUBE :- Ceramic tube is the heart of the Heated Tube Gasifier

Quarts tube normally used for high temperatures was not easily available. Function of the

ceramic tube is to create a hot zone of around 10000 C for fast pyrolysis of biomass. Figure-2

shows the ceramic tube used for HTG system. Dimensions and material of ceramic tube are

selected by following facts.

a. The material and dimensions are selected by the maximum temperature

required for fast pyrolysis of biomass and residence time respectively. The maximum

temperature of hot zone may go up to 13000 C hence tube should withstand upto this

temperature. Ceramic tube of 3 cm length, 2.5 cm diameter and 0.7 cm thickness is found

to be most suitable.

The residence time of the pyriolysis process depends on the velocity of biomass

and the length of the hot zone. Since the biomass is allowed to fall through a vertical

heated tube under the gravitational force, the velocity of the biomass is constant. Hence

the residence time of the fuel depends only on the length of the hot zone. X.Deglise and

P.Mange [1] have shown that to obtain maximum gasification of biomass at 10000 C

temperature, the residence time should be less than 0.5 sec seconds. The residence time

of HTG can be worked by making following assumptions.

i) Biomass falls due to the gravity only with initial velocity zero.
 ii) The length of the heating zone is 24 cm.

iii) Up draft of the hot air is balanced by the downward flow of air flow of air

supplied externally.

With these assumptions and by using expression

S= ut + ½ a t 2

The residence time in the hot zone comes ot to be 0.25 seconds. This time is

sufficient to achieve maximum gasification.

The ceramic tube is electrically heated by winding kanthol wire on under surface

of the tube. The heat for pyrolysis is mainly obtained from combustion of fuel while

passing through the tube is not enough to maintain the temperature of hot zone. Hence

when external heating is employed the temperature of the hot zone is boosted up to

required value. Maximum capacity of HTG is mainly controlled by the rate at which fuel

could be introduced at the upper end of the tube.

This is worked out for 2.5 cm bore on some simplifying assumptions for saw dust

as a fuel.

i) At entry of HTG, saw dust particles occupy 30% of space.

ii) Initial velocity of saw dust particles is 5 cm/sec.

Rate of fuel flow = Cross sectional area of tube X Velocity of biomass X 0.3 X Density

of the fuel. = 4.9 X 5 X 0.3 X 0.5 = 3.6 gm / sec.

Fuel value of saw dust is 21 MJ/Kg, itmeans that 1 Kg of sawdust after burning

gives 21 MJ energy. For 3.6 gm/sec fuel flow rate,

Thermal input power will be 75.6 Kw.

 In most of the gasifier systems fuel conversion efficiency varies between 70% to

85 % considering 75 fuel conversion efficency.

Thermal output power of system will be 56.7 Kw. Thus maximum thermal

capacity output of unit with 75 effeciency and 3.6 gm/sec feeding rate would give 56.7

Kw thermal.

CAVITY AT THE BOTTOM.

The purpose of cavity at the bottom is to crack the gum foaming volatiles and to

collect the ash at lower end. As outlet temperature is high , fitting metal components to

ceramic tube was difficult.

Passages for the output gases are now carved in the insulating bricks of 56 cm

bore diameter. Additional heating, for cracking of the gum forming volatiles, is

maintained in the carved brick. Electrically heated ceramic pipe of 10 cm length and 3.6

cm diameter is used to maintain the additional heating.

The figure-3 shows the cavity which is used for additional heating and collecting

the ash. Figure also shows the 6 mm width circular passage in which biomass gets

additional heating. A stainless steel made hollow cone is fitted at the lower end of the

brick for collection of the ash. Removal of ash arrangement is made at the lower most

end of the zone.

HOPPER
 Hopper is used to feed the biomass for gasification. Figure -4 shows the

schematic diagram of hopper. Feeding mechanism for fuel is related to the following

properties of fuel.

1) Particle size.

2) Moisture content

3) Physical parameters

4) Mouldity characteristics.

It was decided to use charcoal powder and saw dust as fuels. Figure-4 shows a

metal cone of height 10 cm and upper diameter of 18 cm. A screw feeder is fixed at the

centre of the cone to control the feeding rate.

CLEANER/COOLER
O
The temperature of the outlet gas is more than 400 C. also it contains small

particles of charcoal powder, hence gas needs to be cooled and cleaned to get better

quality of gas.

A schematic diagram of the system is shown in the figure-5. A metal vessel of

height 22 cm and 10 cm inner diameter is fixed in container. The temperature of the gas

inside the vessel is decreased to ambient temperature due inside heat exchanger with

continuous water flow. A small quantity of the glass wool is kept in the vessel for

filtration of the gas.

BURNER
 The easiest test of good gasification is to burn it. A burner made of mild steel

which provides primary and secondary air is built and tested.

IV.2 : EXPERIMENTAL

Sawdust reduced in a size to 0.03-1.0 mm is fed by gravity at he top of te reactor

in a free fall mode. The air feed is pre-heated with electrical resistance and entrance the

wood particles which then flow con-currently down to the tube. The wood particles used

in the experiments consist of seasoned sawdust. The wood particles are dried for six

hours at approximately 60 o C. Feed rate of 40 gm/min is used. A char / ash trap separates

the residual solids from the gas. This is followed by water cooled condenser which

separates the lighter and heavier liquids. Sawdust is gasified in a serious of experiments

conducted at temperatures varying from 800 – 10000 C. The residence time of 0.25 sec is

kept constant. Experimental arrangement is shown in the figure-1.

The gas formed is collected in a small glass bottle which is having inlet and

outlet. The bottle inlet is joined in between blower and burner with rubber tube. Gas is

allowed to fill the bottle by opening the inlet and outlet of the bottle. After filling the

bottle i.e when burning of the gas at the outlet is observed, both the ends are closed by

straight bore cocks. Thus the gas sample is collected in bottle for analysis. This gas is

analyzed by a gas chromatograph (Chemito & Omega ) with H2 and N2 as carrier gases.
 CHAPTER-V

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

V.1: CARBONIZATION PROCESS :-

The quality of a charcoal depends on its chemical and physical properties. These

are highly related to the raw biomass material, tree species and the operating conditions

of the pyrolysis process. They will also determine the possibility of the charcoal to
undergo further treatment in order to provide more convenient final products such as char

bricks and pellets.

Among the properties which characterize charcoal more significant are [1]

a) Yield:- The yield is defined as the ratio of the weight of charcoal to that of

the dry material.

b) Volatile Contents:- The weight loss per unit weight of residue essential

hydrocarbons and carbon oxides) when charcoal is heated at 9000 C under vacuum or in

inner atmosphere and –

c) Fixed carbon content :- The dry charcoal weight minus the weight of

volatiles and in-combustible (ashes) per unit weight of charcoal.

The variation of these three properties with the terminal pyrolysis temperature can

be deduced from figure-1.

1) Ash content:- it is composed of the natural minerals contained in the raw

material. The ash content an the composition of these ashes often determined the choice

of a given charcoal for a given special utilization.

2) Specific heat :- it varies according to the specific weight of the raw

material . it is also influenced within a narrow range by the terminal temperature and the

heating rate.

3) Hardness: - it is very important for industries because of its abrasive

capacity.

4) Heating value :- it depends on the fixed carbon and range from 27 MJ/Kg

to 30 MJ/Kg.
 5) Active surface :- the oxidation with steam or chemicals can increase the

surface area of charcoal (activated charcoal) which may measure 1500 m/g.

V.2 : EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON CHARCOAL.

V.2.1 : TEMPERATURE :- The reaction products of biomass pyrolysis are a

linear combination of the products expected from the separate pyrolysis of the three

major components. It is generally agreed that when biomass is pyrolysed at a low heating

rate the following sequence of events occurs [2].

i) AT around 1600 C removal of moisture occurs, the rate peaks at

around 1300 C and drops to negligible levels by 2000 C.

ii) Over the temperature range 200 – 2800 C all of the hemicellulose

decomposes, yielding pcedominantly volatile products (CO, CO 2 and

condensable vapours)

iv) From 280 – 5000 C cellulose, which has already undergone some chemical

transformation, decomposes at an increasing rate which reaches a maximum at around

3200 C.

Figure-2 shows the variation of yield recovery and HHV of charcoal with

temperature at constant residence time of 2 min. We can see from the figure that at

temperature 3250 C, yield is 44.12 %. It increases up to 46.24 % at 350 0 C. After 3500 C

yield decrease to 32.88 % at 4000 C a small increase in yield is seen at 4250 C which is

36.10 %.

Maximum energy recovery about 62 % can be seen at 3500 C temperature. Energy

recovery starts decreasing, minima occurs at 4500 C which is 35.86 %. Figure-2 also
shows the variation of HHV of charcoal. Maximum HHV can be seen at 350 0 C which is

58MJ/kg. a reasonable HHV around 56 mg/kg can be seen at 4500 C temperature.

Figure-3-7 shows the variation of the yield, energy recovery and HHV of charcoal

for residence time of 5 min, 7.5 min, 10 min, 12.5 min and 15 min respectively.

V.2.2:-RESIDENCE TIME:- Figure -8-14 shows the variation of yield, energy

recovery and HHV of charcoal. For example figure-10 shows the maximum of yield,

energy recovery and HHV curves at 2.5 min and 350 0 C, minimum of these three curves

can be seen at residence time of 10 min.

From these curves following conclusions can be drawn.

i) The yield is in general decreases as the carbonization temperature as well as

time increases. This observation is valid for carbonization in ambient atmosphere.

ii) The energy recovery also decreases with temperature and time. However the

energy recovery more strongly depend on the temperature than time. We can see from

figure-2 that the recovery decreases faster when temperature is increased, this due to the

fact that certain volatile matters, especially lignin does not decompose at lower

temperature.

iii) The HHV of the char though higher than the trash, does not change

appreciably with time or temperature. The HHV of S.C.T is 16.46 MJ/Kg, where as the

average HHV of char is 21.09 MJ/Kg obtained in he optimized area for air S.C.T contains

about 73 % volatile matter. The carbonization process is complete when the

decomposition of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin has begun in such a way that the

initial atomic arrangement is totally changed giving out volatile matter. Thus when yield

is 45 % the carbonization process is complete, further heating remove some of the carbon
 reducing carbon content in the char as well as energy recovery. Hence for carbonization

in the air can be done under following conditions for maximum energy recovery and

quality.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temperature range Residence Time

_______________________________________________________________

315 – 365oC 2 – 6 min

_______________________________________________________________

Time temperature reasons over which carbonization can be done efficiently are

shown in the figure-15 & 16 by shaded region. Thus for the carbonizer temperature of

carbonization and residence time should be maintained in these regions in order to

complete the pyrolysis of S.C.T

The average yield and reviver in this region are 45 % and 57 % respectively. For

better understanding bachground of carbonization process can be tabulated as follows.

TABLE-1: QUALITY OF CHRCOAL AND CARBON CONTENT AT

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES OF CARBONIZER.

CARBONIZATION TEMP oC CARBON CONTENT % QUALITY OF CHARCOAL

150 47 Not properly carbonized
 200 51
275 70 Readly combustible brown

charcoal
350 76 Black charcoal of good

quality. Easy to ignite

500 80 Very black, dense and solid

charcoal, very difficult to

ignite.

The performance of “ THE BARREL TYPE CONTINUOUS CARBONOZER” is

evaluated in terms of charcoal production rate, charcoal yield and quality. Table -2 shows

the comparative performance of the new equipment.

TABLE -2: COMPARATATIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE EQUIPMENT.

Carbonization Raw material Charcoal yield% Production rate HHV MJ/kg

method kg/hr
Modified drum Coconut husk 24.60 1.89 24.70
FPRDI sawdust Sawdust 22.5 6.00 14.75

carbonizer
Barrel Type Pulverized S.C.T 40.45 1.00 21.00

continuous

carbonizer

V.3: STRUCTURAL STUDIES :-

Charcoal is not just another form of carbon, such as graphite or diamond. It

consists of a complex mixture of organic chemical substances containing carbon,

hydrogen and oxygen in chemical combination, together with smaller amounts of

nitrogen and sulphur, coalification is the name given to the development of the series of
 substances peat, lignite or brown coal, bituminaous coal and finally anthracite. The

degree of coalification or rank of the coal increases progressively from lignite through

low rank coal to anthracite. The carbon content increases and the oxygen and hydrogen

contents decrease throughout the series, while the reactivity decreases.

Coal can be analyzed chemically to determine the percentages of the main

elements present, namely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Typical analysis of

coals of different ranks are given in Table-III, with comparative values for wood, peat

and lignite [3].

TABLE-3: CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS OF WOOD, PEAT AND VARIOUS

COALS.

%C %H %O %N
Wool 50.0 6.3 42.7 1.0
Peat 57.0 5.2 36.8 1.0
Lignite 65.0 4.0 30.0 1.0
Low-Rank coal 79.0 5.5 14.0 1.5
Med Rank coal 88.0 5.3 5.0 1.7
Anthracite 91.0 2.9 1.9 1.2

The charcoal obtained from “CONTINUOUS CARBONIZER” has a 76% of

carbon at 350oC, can be put in a low-rank coal.

The chemical structure of coal involves a carbon skeleton, and X-ray analysis has

provided very useful information on the arrangement of the carbon atoms. The diffraction

patterns derived from charcoal are very diffuse but examination shows that there are

board peaks present in diffraction at positions shown in figure-15. When the carbon

content in the coal is more than 85 % the diffraction pattern of coal and graphite are

similar but show broad peaks indicating smaller crystallite size [4].
 Figure-16 also shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of sugar cane trash (SCT)

wood charcoal and graphite [200-plane]. For SCT, X-ray diffraction pattern of mid-vain

show semicrystalline structure whereas leaves show amorphous structure. X-ray

diffraction pattern of wood charcoal also shows semicrystalline structure butit is more

like a graphite.

Figure-16 shows the diffraction patterns of charcoal, pyrolysed under different

temperature and constant residence time. The structure shows high degree of crystallnity

specially at higher temperature of carbonizer. The diffraction pattern at higher

temperature is more sharp than diffraction patterns of char pyrolysed under different

temperatures.

When the diffraction patterns of char are compared with the diffraction pattern of

SCT, it can be concluded that:

1) The board peaks appearing between 13O – 20O become intense and sharp

after carbonization of SCT.

2) The diffuse peak appearing between 20O – 24O vanixhes after

carbonization.

3) New sharp peaks appear at 26O when processed at higher temperature.

Hemicellulose and lignin present in the biomass have amorphous structure and

low molecular weight. Both these give rise tovolatile when heated at 200-4000C.

Hemicellulose degrade at lower temperature ( 200-2600 C ) while lignin decomposes at

higher temperature (300 – 4000C). The diffuse peak appearing at 220 is due to

hemicellulose and lignin. This peak disappears when SCT is pyrolysed.

 Thus our X-ray diffraction studies indicate that cellulose provides basic carbon

skeleton for forming crystalline char. Since carbon content in the char is 76% it’s

structure does not match with the graphite which contents more than 85% carbon.

V.4: HEATED TUBE GASIFIER :-

In applications requiring maximum conversion of feedstock to gas, the tubular

reactor has several advantages over other conversion technologies. The tubular reactor

subjects the feedstock to very rapid heating rates, of the order of 10000 0 C /s thereby

minimizing char and tar production and maximizing gas production especially the

valuable unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Because heat is generated external to the reactor tube, pyrolysis gases are not

contaminated by products of combustion or nitrogen, yielding a gas with a HHV of 6

MJ/m3 and with considerable quantities of hydrogen, carbon-monoxide, and the

unsaturated hydrocarbon species. External heating of the reactor tube also allows use of a

wide varity of heating methods including combustion of feedstock, process of gas, natural

gas or use of solar energy. The tubular reactor is operated in a continuous mode, has a

high throughput capability, and can be configured in a compact furnace.

The purpose of this study is to develop the process chemistry for the rapid

pyrolysis of biomass which include agricultural products with both reactive (H 2, CO,

CO2, CH4, C2H4, & C2H6 ) and not reactive (N2 ) gases for the production of gaseous

hydrocarbon fuels and feedstock.

A versatile, compact and economical down flow entrained tubular reactor is

designed and developed for these studies. The wood particles used in the experiment
consists of a seasoned sawdust. Feed rate of 40 gm/min is used. The elemental analysis

and characterization of the feed and effluent products are made.

V.5 : GAS ANALYSIS : -

The powder gas mainly consists of the following gases when air is introduced into

the reactor. These are N2, H2, CO, CO2, CH4, C2H4, C2H6 and H2O. Normally N2 and H2

gases are used as carrier gases in gas chromatograph. When N2 is used as a carrier gas, all

gases can be analyzed except N2 gas from the sample. Same is true for H 2 gas. Gas

chromatograph gives the percentage of the different gases by volume. Producer gas has to

be analyzed with N2 and H2 carrier gases.

V.5.1 : DETAILS OF THE GAS CHROMATOGRAPH :-

1) Gas chromatograph : Toshinal (CHEMITO -3800)

2) Carrier gas : i) N2 ( IOLAR – 95% )

ii) H2 (95%)

3) Column : i) Porapak – Q ( 3 M x 3 mm)

ii) Spherocarb ( 3 M x 3 mm

4) Temperature : i) Detector – 2000C

ii) Oven - 500C

iii) Injector - 1000C

5) Detectors : i) Thermal conductivity detector (TCD)

ii) Hot wire detector (HWD)

iii) Flame ionization detector (FID)

6) Gas flow : 30 – 40 ml /min ( Souk gas flow meter)

 PORAPAK –Q :- This column is used for analysis of CO/N2, CO2, CH4, C2H4,

C2H6, & H2 O gases with H2 as carrier gas.

SPHEROCARB :-This column is sued for separation of N2 and CO gases with H2

as a carrier gas.

V:6 : RESULTS :-

The volume percentage of the product gases are tabulated in TABLE-4 , TABLE-

5, and TABLE VI for the system temperature of 8000C and 10000C respectively. The

percentage of the product gases by weight and by mole are also tabulated in the following

TABLES. Densities of the different product gases are taken from the standard book “

CHEMICAL ENGINEERS HANDBOOK” ( 4 )

TABLE-IV : WEIGHT OF THE PRODUCT GASES AND PERCENTAGE OF

THE PRODUCT GASES BY MOLE & VOLUME AT 8000C.

Sr. Substances Percentage by Density Weight gm MOLE %

No. volume gm/lit number

1 N2 55.30 1.18 5.52 2.34 55.30
2 H2 15.30 0.08 1.30 0.65 15.30
3 CO 11.15 1.18 13.20 0.47 11.12
4 CO2 9.64 1.87 18.05 0.41 9.68
5 CH4 2.13 0.68 1.44 0.09 2.13
6 C2H4 1.18 1.19 1.40 0.05 1.18
7 C2H6 0.17 1.28 0.22 0.01 0.16
8 H2O 5.13 0.76 3.90 0.22 4
100.00 105.03 4.23 100.00
TABLE-V : WEIGHT OF THE PRODUCT GASES AND PERCENTAGE OF

THE PRODUCT GASES BY MOLE & VOLUME AT SYSTEM

TEMPERATURE 9000C.
Sr. Substances Percentage by Density Weight gm MOLE %

No. volume gm/lit number

1 N2 58.14 1.18 68.89 2.46 58.10
2 H2 15.93 0.08 1.36 0.68 16.00
3 CO 11.54 1.18 13.66 0.49 11.55
4 CO2 9.59 1.87 17.96 0.41 9.60
5 CH4 2.39 0.68 1.62 0.10 2.36
6 C2H4 0.95 1.19 1.13 0.04 0.94
7 C2H6 0.17 1.28 0.22 0.01 0.16
8 H2O 1.29 0.76 0.98 0.06 1.29
100.00 105.82 4.24 100.00

TABLE-VI : WEIGHT AND PERCENTAGE OF THE PRODUCT GASES BY

MOLE & VOLUME AT SYSTEM TEMPERATURE 10000C.

Sr. Substances Percentage by Density Weight gm MOLE %

No. volume gm/lit number

1 N2 57.12 1.18 67.68 2.42 57.19
2 H2 16.05 0.08 1.37 0.68 16.20
3 CO 12.32 1.18 14.59 0.51 12.09
4 CO2 9.15 1.87 17.14 0.39 9.20
5 CH4 2.85 0.68 1.93 0.12 2.84
6 C2H4 1.12 1.19 1.33 0.05 1.12
7 C2H6 0.37 1.28 0.47 0.01 0.35
8 H2O 1.02 0.76 0.77 0.04 1.01
100.00 105.28 4.23 100.00

V.7 : CARBON BALANCE IN FEED RATE AND GASESOUS PRODUCTS :-

 The system has the advantage that complete carbon by weight can be balanced

and quantity of gas formed can be estimated. This can be done by calculating the carbon

content in feed rate which has to be balanced with carbon content in the gas produced.

V.7.1 : CARBON CONTENT IN FEED RATE :-

Wood is vegetal organic matter which has the composition, carbon 50% ,

hydrogen 6% and oxygen 44%. It can be represented by the empirical formula C H

1.44 0 0.66.

Feeding rate of sawdust/wood particles is 40 gm/min. Carbon content in 40gm of

sawdust is 20gm but it is difficult to convert 100 % carbon in gaseous form. In this

system 20 % residues observed at 900 0C which contents mainly ash and unburned wood

particles. Thus net carbon in feeding is 16 gm i.e. 16 gm/min carbon is converted in to

gaseous form.

V.7.2 : CARBON CONTENT IN THE PRODUCT GASES :-

The carbon content in the product gases is estimated by considering 100 lit of the

gas sample. For example consider a 100 litre of gas at system temperature 900 OC. The

weight of the product gases is given in the table-5

e.g. carbon content in CO2

C + O2 --------------> CO2

12g 32g 44 gm

i.e. 44 gms f CO2 contains 12 gms of carbon. The 100 lit of gas contains by

weight 17.96 gms of CO2 Then carbon content in the 17.96 gm of CO2 is,

Carbon content X = 12/44 x 17.96

 = 4.90 gm.

Similarly carbon content, by weight in 100 lit of producer gas is calculated and is

tabulated in TABLE-4.

Table –VII: CARBON CONTENT IN 100 LITRE OF PRODUCER GAS AT

SYSTEM TEMPERATURE 9000C.

Sr No Substance Weight of gas in 100 Carbon Content gm

lit gam
1 N2 68.69 -
2 H2 1.36 -
3 CO 13.66 -
4 CO2 17.96 5.85
5 CH4 1.62 4.90
6 C2H4 1.13 1.22
7 C2H6 0.22 1.04
8 H2O 0.98 0.18
105.82 13.19

It is conducted from the TABLE-VII that 13.19 gm of carbon can be converted in

to 100 lit of producer gas. From section V:5.1, the net carbon available for conversion is

16 gm, so total producer gas formed will be 120 lit. Thus 40 gm of sawdust can produce

120 litres of producer gas.

V.8 : ENERGY CALCULATIONS:-

V.8.1 : INPUT ENERGY:-

The energy from sawdust and external electrical energy used, combines the total

input energy.

i) Energy from sawdust:-

 The calorific value of the saw dust is determined by burning athe sawdust and

transferring the heat to a material of known specific heat, such as water or air after that

the temperature rise of the heat absorbing material is measured. The calorific value of the

sawdust is determined with the help of BOMP CALORIMETER. The calorific value of

the sawdust is 16 MJ/Kg, which means that 1 g of saw dust is 16 MJ/Kg, which means

that 1 kg of saw dust gives 16 MJ energy.

Since our sawdust feed rate is 40 gm/min which gives net input energy 64000 J.

ii) External electrical energy applied:-

The hot zone of HTG is created by applying external electrical energy. The

temperature of the zone is mentioned by adjusting the voltage across the heater coil. For

example to get 900OC system temperature the electrical energy required is

a) For heating ceramic tube

current flowing through the coil = 4.35 amp

resistance of the wire = 40 ohm

Power (IR) = 756.9 watt

b) For heating air and lower heating zone

power = 250.1 watt

Total external electrical power = 1007.0 watt

i.e. Total external energy = 60420 J

Thus total input energy (i+ii) = 700240 J

V.8.2 : OUTPUT ENERGY:-

 Output energy is sum of the energies from combustible product gases. TABLE-

VIII shows the energy obtained from 120 lit of produced gas. The calorific values of the

product gases are taken from “Chemical Engineer’s Hand Book”

TABLE –VIII :-ENERGY OBTAINED FROM 120 LITRE OF PRODUCER

GAS AT SYSTEM TEMPERATURE 9000C.

Sr No Substance Std. Calorific values Product gas Lit Energy J

J/Lit
1 N2 - 69.76 -
2 H2 10361.6 19.12 198113.79
3 CO 12134.6 13.85 167925.71
4 CO2 - 11.51 -
5 CH4 34404.2 2.87 98740.05
6 C2H4 57015.1 1.14 64997.21
7 C2H6 61830.4 0.20 12366.08
8 H2O - 1.55 -
120.00 542142.84
Thus total output energy obtained per min = 542142.34 J

V.9: EFFICIENCY

V.9.1 : CONVERSION EFFECIENCY

The conversion efficiency defines, amount of biomass is converted in to gaseous

form. For 9000C system temperature it comes out to be,

Efficiency = energy from product gases per min / energy from sawdust

per min.

= 542142.84/640000.0

= 0.847

Or = 84.70 %

V.9.2 : OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF THE SYSTEM :-

 To calculate the system efficiency, the external applied energy should also be

taken in to consideration. For 9000C the system temperature it comes out to be,

Total input energy per minute = 700420.00

Total output energy per minute = 542142.84

Overall system efficiency = 542142.84 / 700420.00

= 0.774

Or = 77.40 %

Similarly conversion efficiency and system efficiency can be calculated for 800 0C

and 10000C system temperatures. Table-7 shows the conversion efficiency and system

efficiency at different temperatures.

TABLE –IX : CONVERSION EFFECIENCY AND SYSTEM EFFECIENCY

AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

Sr No Temperature 0C Conversion effi % System effi %

1 800 82.08 75.76
2 900 84.70 77.40
3 1000 88.83 78.52

V.10: SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS:-

The following observations can be drawn from the experimental work.

i) The main combustible gaseous products from the fast pyrolysis (air catalyst)

of wood biomass are hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

ii) Approximately 80 % of the carbon in the sawdust can be converted

to the gaseous products, mainly hudrogen and carbon monoxide in the temperature range

800 – 10000 C.
 iii) Significant amounts of methane, ethane and ethylene are also formed

in the temperature range 800 – 10000 C.

iv) Even though conversion efficiency an overall system is

comparatively more at 10000 C it recommended to operate the system at 9000 C. AT

10000C breakages of different parts of the system are observed.

v) The quality of the gas obtained is in the category of Low Joule value

(L.J.V) gas. Calorific values, 4.45, 4.63 and 4.89 MJ/m3 are observed at the system

temperatures 800, 900 and 10000C respectively.

 Reference

1. J.W.SHOPT; Origins of life -7, 19-38 (1976). Solar energy conversion,

A.E.Dixon.

2. W.D.SHRADER; Effect of removal of crop residues on soil productivity

(1978).NITS-Conference 770368, P-49-74.

3. D.O.HALL & R.P. OVERND; BIOMASS – Regenerable Energy (p-78) A wiley

Interscence Publiction.

4. A.STREHLER & W.STUZZLE ; Biomass resude, BIOMASS, D.O. HALL &

Overnd.

U.SHRINIVASA; Gasifier based energy systems for powdery biomass.

5 A.G.BUEKENS &J.G.SHOOTERS;Mathmatical modeling in

gasification,Thermochmical processing of biomass p-177

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1170

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In procedingof symposiumon forest products [1985]

 8K.A.MURTHY.&P.L.BLAKESHEAR;Combustion science and

technology,1,339[1970]

9A.BEENACKERS&W.VAN SWAAJI;Gasification of biomass,A state of art

review in A.V.Bridgewater (ed),Thermochemical processing of

biomass,Butterworths,London (1984)

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Thermogravimetric analysis of olive stones with sulphuric acid treatment, Journal of

Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 44 (1997), pp. 75–88. Article | PDF (159 K) | View

Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (35)

Cagnon et al., 2003 B. Cagnon, X. Py, A. Guillot and F. Stoeckli, The effect of

carbonization/activation procedure on the microporous texture of the subsequent chars

and active carbons, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 57 (2003), pp. 273–282.

Abstract | Article | PDF (161 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (11)

Daud and Ali, 2004 W.A.W. Daud and W.S.W. Ali, Comparison on pore

development of activated carbon produced from palm shell and coconut shell,

Bioresource Technology 93 (2004), pp. 63–69. Article | PDF (288 K) | View Record in

Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (23)

Fernandez et al., 2001 E. Fernandez, T.A. Centeno and F. Stoeckli, Chars and

activated carbons prepared from Asturian apple pulp, Adsorption Science and

Technology 19 (2001), pp. 645–653. Full Text via CrossRef

Font et al., 1991 R. Font, A. Marcilla, E. Verdu and J. Devesa,

Thermogravimetric kinetic study of the pyrolysis of almond shells and almond shells

impregnated with CoCl2, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 21 (1991), pp.

249–264. Abstract | PDF (889 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (36)

Gergova et al., 1993 K. Gergova, N. Petrov and V. Minkova, A comparison of

adsorption characteristics of various activated carbons, Journal of Chemical

Biotechnology 56 (1993), pp. 77–82. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (49)

Gonzalez et al., 1997 M.T. Gonzalez, F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, A.N. Garcia and A.

Marcilla, CO2 activation of olive stones carbonized under different experimental

conditions, Carbon 35 (1997), pp. 159–162. Abstract | Article | PDF (429 K) | View

Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (52)

Guillot et al., 2000 A. Guillot, F. Stoeckli and Y. Bauguil, The microporosity of

activated carbon fibre KF1500 assessed by combined CO2 adsorption and calorimetry

techniques and by immersion calorimetry, Adsorption Science and Technology 18

(2000), pp. 1–14. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus

(10)

Kifani-Sahban et al., 1996 F. Kifani-Sahban, L. Belkbir and A. Zoulalian, Etude

de la pyrolyse lente de l’eucalyptus marocain par analyse thermique, Thermochimica

Acta 284 (1996), pp. 341–349. Abstract | PDF (418 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited

By in Scopus (3)

Mackay and Roberts, 1982a D.M. Mackay and P.V. Roberts, The influence of

pyrolysis conditions on the subsequent gasification of lignocellulosic chars, Carbon 20

(1982), pp. 105–111. Abstract | PDF (746 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in

Scopus (9)

Mackay and Roberts, 1982b D.M. Mackay and P.V. Roberts, The dependence of

char and carbon yield on lignocellulosic precursor composition, Carbon 20 (1982), pp.

87–94. Abstract | PDF (795 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (21)

Marcilla et al., 2000 A. Marcilla, S. Garcia-Garcia, M. Asensio and J.A. Conesa,

Influence of thermal treatment regime on the density and reactivity of activated carbons

from almond shells, Carbon 38 (2000), pp. 429–440. Abstract | Article | PDF (1357 K) |

View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (15)

Molina-Sabio et al., 1995 M. Molina-Sabio, F. Caturla and F. Rodriguez-Reinoso,

Influence of the atmosphere used in the carbonization of phosphoric acid impregnated

peach stones, Carbon 33 (1995), pp. 1180–1182. Abstract | PDF (298 K) | View Record

in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (17)

Mortley et al., 1988 Q. Mortley, W.A. Mellowes and S. Thomas, Activated

carbons from materials of varying morphological structure, Thermochimica Acta 129

(1988), pp. 173–186. Abstract | PDF (907 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in

Scopus (7)

Orfao et al., 1999 J.J.M. Orfao, F.J.A. Antunes and J.L. Figueiredo, Pyrolysis

kinetics of lignocellulosics materials – three independent reactions model, Fuel 78

(1999), pp. 349–358. Article | PDF (244 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus

(148)

Ouensanga et al., 2003 A. Ouensanga, L. Largitte and M.A. Arsene, The

dependence of char yield on the amounts of components in precursors for pyrolysed

tropical fruit stones and seeds, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 59 (2003), pp.

85–91. Abstract | Article | PDF (654 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (9)

Rodriguez-Reinoso et al., 1982 F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, J.deD. Lopez-Gonzalez

and C. Berenguer, Activated carbon from almond shells 1 – Preparation and

characterisation by nitrogen adsorption, Carbon 20 (1982), pp. 513–518. Abstract | PDF

(498 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (58)

Rodriguez-Reinoso et al., 1984 F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, J.deD. Lopez-Gonzalez

and C. Berenguer, Activated carbons from almond shells-II : Characterization of the pore

structure, Carbon 22 (1984), pp. 13–18. Abstract | PDF (533 K) | View Record in Scopus

| Cited By in Scopus (12)

Rodriguez-Reinoso et al., 1985 F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, J.M. Martin-Martinez and

M. Molina-Sabio, A comparison of the porous texture of two CO2 activated botanic

materials, Carbon 23 (1985), pp. 19–24. Abstract | PDF (558 K) | View Record in Scopus

| Cited By in Scopus (29)

 Saeman et al., 1954 J.F. Saeman, W.E. Moore, R.L. Mitchell and M.A. Millett,

Techniques for the determination of pulp constituents by quantitative paper

chromatography, Tappi 37 (1954), pp. 336–343.

Sarwardeker et al., 1965 J.S. Sarwardeker, J.H. Sloneker and A. Jeanes,

Quantitative determination of monosaccharides as their alditol acetates by gas liquid

chromatography, Analytical Chemistry 37 (1965), pp. 1602–1604.

Shafizadeh and Chin, 1977 Shafizadeh, F., Chin, P.P.S., 1977. Wood technology:

chemical aspect. In: Goldstein, I.S., (Ed.), ACS Symposium Series 43.

Stoeckli, 1995 F. Stoeckli, Characterization of microporous carbons by adsorption

and immersion techniques. In: J. Patrick, Editor, Porosity in Carbons – Characterization

and Applications, Arnold, London (1995), pp. 67–92.

Stoeckli et al., 1999 F. Stoeckli, E. Daguerre and A. Guillot, The development of

micropore volumes and widths during physical activation of various precursors, Carbon

37 (1999), pp. 2075–2077. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (19)

Stoeckli et al., 2000 F. Stoeckli, A. Guillot, D. Hugi-Cleary and A. Slasi, Pore

size distributions of active carbons assessed by different techniques, Carbon 38 (2000),

pp. 938–941. Abstract | Article | PDF (77 K)

Stoeckli et al., 2002 F. Stoeckli, A. Guillot, D. Hugi-Cleary and A. Slasi, The

comparison of experimental and calculated pore size distributions of activated carbons,

Carbon 40 (2002), pp. 383–388. Abstract | Article | PDF (129 K) | View Record in

Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (32)

Suarez-Garcia et al., 2002 F. Suarez-Garcia, A. Martinez-Alonso and J.M.D.

Tascon, Pyrolysis of apple pulp: effect of operation conditions and chemical additives,
Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 62 (2002), pp. 93–109. Article | PDF (365 K)

| View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (20)

Zabaniotou et al., 2008 A. Zabaniotou, G. Stavropoulos and V. Skoulou,

Activated carbon from olive kernels in a two-stage process: Industrial improvement,

Bioresource Technology 99 (2008), pp. 320–326. Article | PDF (413 K) | View Record in

Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (3)