• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.40-50
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• 2013

This study was performed to investigate the potential of torrefied tulip tree (TT) for the production of pellets. For this purpose, chemical composition and fuel characteristics of torrefied TT were examined. In addition, pellets were fabricated by using sawdust of torrefied TT chip, and durability of the pellet was measured. Lignin content of torrefied TT was higher than that of non-torrefied TT, and increased with the increases of torrefaction temperature and time. Fuel characteristics of torrefied TT were affected by torrefied conditions, and the characteristics were influenced more by torrefaction temperature than by torrefaction time. Higher heating value (HHV) and ash content (AC) of torrefied tulip tree increased with increasing torrefaction temperature, and the values were much higher than HHV and AC values of non-torrefied TT. Durability of pellets fabricated with $230^{\circ}C$- and $250^{\circ}C$-torrefied TT was higher than that of $270^{\circ}C$-torrefied TT, and the value exceeded the minimum requirement (-97.50%) of the 1st-grade pellet standard designated by Korea Forest Research Institute. Based on the results, torrefaction treatment of $250^{\circ}C/50min$ to TT might be a optimal condition for the production of TT pellets considering the mass balance and fuel characteristics of TT as well as the durability of the pellets. Thus, it is confirmed that torrefied TT can be used as a raw material for the production of bio-pellets.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.350-355
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• 2018

In this study, the effect of biomass torrefaction on the thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of cork oak was investigated. The thermal and catalytic pyrolysis behavior of cork oak (CO) and torrefied CO (TCO) were evaluated by comparing their thermogravimetric (TG) analysis results and product distributions of bio-oils obtained from the fast pyrolysis using a fixed bed reactor. TG and differential TG (DTG) curves of CO and TCO revealed that the elimination amount of hemicellulose in CO increased by applying the higher torrefaction temperature and longer torrefaction time. CO torrefaction also decreased the oil yield but increased that of solid char during the pyrolysis because the contents of cellulose and lignin in CO increased due to the elimination of hemicellulose during torrefaction. Selectivities of the levoglucosan and phenolics in TCO pyrolysis oil were higher than those in CO pyrolysis oil. The content of aromatic hydrocarbons in bio-oil increased by applying the catalytic pyrolysis of CO and TCO over HZSM-5 ($SiO_2/Al_2O_3=30$). Compared to CO, TCO showed the higher efficiency on the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons via the catalytic pyrolysis over HZSM-5 and the efficiency was maximized by applying the higher torrefaction and catalytic pyrolysis reaction temperatures of 280 and $600^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.739-744
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• 2013

In this study, torrefaction was performed to improve fuel properties of Larch. The optimal condition for torrefaction was investigated by response surface methodology. The torrefaction temperature and time ranged $220{\sim}280^{\circ}C$ and 20~80 min, respectively. As the torrefaction temperature and time increased, the carbon content of torrefied biomass increased from 49.36 to 56.65%, while its hydrogen and oxygen contents decreased from 5.56 to 5.48% and from 37.62 to 31.67%, respectively. The weight loss and calorific value increased with SF, while energy yield decreased. At the severe torrefaction condition (SF 7), the weight loss and calorific value were 26.58% and 22.30 MJ/kg, respectively. The energy contained in torrefied biomass increased to 20.41%, when compared with the untreated biomass. As the torrefaction severity increased, the energy yield decreased due to the relatively high weight loss of biomass. Therefore, the highest energy yield was obtained at high calorific value and low weight loss of biomass (SF 5.72).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.385-389
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• 2012

In this study, torrefaction of mixed softwood chips under anoxic condition was performed to improve energy density and maintain consistent quality of biomass. Characteristics of torrefied biomass depending on reaction time (30 min) and temperature (240, 260,$280^{\circ}C$) were investigated. Torrefaction of mixed softwood chips significantly improved the heating value compared to that of untreated biomass. As the torrefaction temperature was increased, the carbon content of torrefied biomass increased from 46.55 to 55.73%, while its hydrogen and oxygen contents decreased from 6.00 to 5.87% and from 30.55 to 27.21%, respectively. Most of hemicelluloses and volatile compounds were removed during torrefaction. The highest heating value was 5132 kcal/kg when torrefaction was performed at$280^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. It implied that the heating value increased by 13% compared to that of original biomass. However, the condition of effective torrefaction was at $240^{\circ}C$ for 30 min when weight loss and energy yield was considered.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.685-694
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• 2016

In this study, the thermal degradation behavior of biomass during torrefaction was studied by thermogravimetric and byproduct gas analysis. Torrefaction temperature, time, and heating rate were $220{\sim}300^{\circ}C$, 110 min, and $10{\sim}30^{\circ}C/min$, respectively. The degradation rate of yellow poplar was 8.01~8.81% at $220^{\circ}C$ and 71.86~77.38% at $300^{\circ}C$ depending on heating rate. The degradation rate significantly increased at temperature over $240^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, degradation rate of larch was relatively low as 49.58~54.15% at $300^{\circ}C$. The activation energy of yellow poplar was 87.32~91.24 kJ/mol; these values did not significantly change with heating rate. The activation energy of larch was 83.85~91.60 kJ/mol. The major components of the gas generated during torrefaction were derived from hemicellulose. The component types and concentrations increased with torrefaction severity. High concentrations of furfural and acetic acid were detected during torrefaction of yellow poplar.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 2014

Renewable Portfolio Standards(RPS) is a regulation that requires a renewable energy generated from eco-friendly energy sources such as biomass, wind, solar, and geothermal. The RPS mechanism generally is an obligatory policy that places on electricity supply companies to produce a designated fraction of their electricity from renewable energies. The domestic companies to supply electricity largely rely on wood pellets in order to implement the RPS in spite of undesirable situation of lack of wood resources in Korea. This means that the electricity supply companies in Korea must explore new biomass as an alternative to wood. Palm kernel shell (PKS) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) as oil palm wastes can be used as raw materials used for making pellets after their thermochemical treatment like torrefaction. Torrefaction is a pretreatment process which serves to improve the properties including heating value and energy densification of these oil palm wastes through a mild pyrolysis at temperature typically ranging between 200 and $300^{\circ}C$ in the absence of oxygen under atmospheric pressure. Torrefaction of oil palms wastes at above $200^{\circ}C$ contributed to the increase of fixed carbon with the decrease of volatile matters, leading to the improvement of their calorific values over 20.9 MJ/kg (=5,000 kcal/kg) up to 25.1 MJ/kg (=6,000 kcal/kg). In particular, EFB sensitively responded to torrefaction because of its physical properties like fiber bundles, compared to PKS and hardwood chips. In conclusion, torrefaction treatment of PKS and EFB can greatly contribute to the implement of RPS of the electricity supply companies in Korea through the increased co-firing biomass with coal.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.86-94
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• 2015

Torrefaction is a thermochemical process proceeded at the temperature around $250^{\circ}C$ in an inert gas condition. By torrefaction, the hemicellulose portions contained in biomass are broken down to change into the volatile gas which is removed from biomass eventually. The main purpose of biomass torrefaction is to improve the energy density of the biomass to minimize the transport energy consumption, though the flammability can be elevated for transportation. In this study two types of solid biomass fuel, waste wood and rice straw, were torrefied at various temperature range from $200^{\circ}C$ to $300^{\circ}C$ to evaluate the torrefied biomass characteristics. In addition torrefied biomass were tested to evaluate the combustion characteristics using TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis). After the torrefaction of biomass, the C/H (carbon to hydrogen ratio) and C/O (carbon to oxygen ratio) were measured for aquisition of bio-stability as well as combustion pattern. Generally C/H ratio implies the soot formation during combustion, and the C/O ratio for bio-stability. By torrefaction temperature at $300^{\circ}C$, C/H ratio and C/O ratio were increased by two times for C/H and three times for C/O. The torrefied biomass showed similar TGA pattern to coal compared to pure biomass; that is, less mass decrease at lower temperature range for torrefied biomass than the pure biomass.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.17-23
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• 2017

In South Korea, 25 % of annual agricultural residues (11.64 million tons) are unused. The hydrophilicity, low lower heating value (LHV), and low energy density of agricultural residues can be obstacles for efficient usage. Torrefaction, a low temperature pyrolysis process, can be a solution to overcome these disadvantage of agricultural residues. In this study, agricultural residues such as bean stem, pepper stem, perilla stem, sorghum stem, acorn shell, and ginkgo shell are torrefied at 200, 230, and $250^{\circ}C$ and evaluated energy properties, respectively. The torrefaction can increase the LHV and energy density rate of agricultural residues from 3,331~4,444 kcal/kg to 4,166~5,830 kcal/kg and 20~30 %, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.901-909
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• 2013

Owing to the Increasing use of fossil fuels, worldwide concerns over environmental pollution are increasing. As a solution, ligneous biomass has emerged as a promising alternative fuel in recent times. Therefore, in this study, a moisture evaporation model that largely influences the energy density and efficiency of ligneous biomass is studied using a numerical approach. Furthermore, the thermal characteristics are analyzed in terms of torrefaction temperature and moisture fractions in the wood, and the type of wood species. The results show that the temperature and moisture fractions of wood decrease with an increase in the torrefaction temperature. In particular, when the torrefaction temperature is lower than 423K, there were little changes in the moisture fraction in the wood. Furthermore, it was found that charcoal is produced more slowly as the moisture fraction in the wood increases.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.497-506
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• 2013

The optimal condition for the torrefaction of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) was investigated by response surface methodology. The carbon content in the torrefied biomass increased with the severity factor (SF), while hydrogen and oxygen contents decreased. The calorific value of torrefied biomass ranged from 20.23 to 21.29 MJ/kg, depending on the torrefaction conditions. This implied that the energy contained in the torrefied biomass increased by 1.6 to 6.9%, when compared with that of the untreated biomass. The weight loss of biomass increased as the SF increased. The Code level of reaction temperature had the highest impact on the energy yield of torrefied biomass, while the effect of Code level of reaction time was considerably low. The highest energy yield was obtained at low SF.