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Effect of Torrefaction Treatment on Physical and Fuel Properties of Caragana (Caragana korshinskii) Pellets

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Abstract

Caragana is potentially an alternative biomass feedstock in China. The influences of different torrefaction conditions on the physical characteristics and fuel properties of pellets made from Caragana were investigated. The Caragana pellets were torrefied under the temperature of 225, 250, and 275 °C with the residence time of 10, 15, and 20 min, respectively. The results showed that the density of torrefied pellet reduced by 24.07 to 35.20%. Compression strength decreased to 7.62 N/mm2 for treated pellets under the condition of 275 °C and 20 min with the maximum weight loss of 29.93%, and the higher heating value increased to 20.95~22.93 MJ/kg. The equilibrium moisture content of the torrefied pellets decreased by 46.17% compared with raw materials. The mass yield and energy yield of torrefied pellet were 70.07 to 88.54% and 70.93 to 90.79%, respectively. With the increase of the torrefaction severity, the mechanical and physical properties of the pellets decreased, while the storage performance and fuel properties enhanced. Simultaneously, the torrefaction temperature had more influence on the fuel properties of Caragana pellets than the residence time. The Caragana pellets torrefied at 250 °C for 20 min maintained not only almost the same mechanical and physical properties as the untreated pellets but performed better storage and fuel properties.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from China Scholarship Council, China (201706355006). This work was supported by China Agriculture Research System [grant number CARS-34].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yan Yu, Zheng Zhu, Liuqing Wang, Guanghui Wang & Xiaopeng Bai

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  1. Yan Yu
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  2. Zheng Zhu
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  3. Liuqing Wang
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  4. Guanghui Wang
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  5. Xiaopeng Bai
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Contributions

Yan Yu: Writing and revising

Zheng Zhu: Writing the original draft

Liuqing Wang: Investigation

Xiaopeng Bai: Investigation

Guanghui Wang: Supervision, writing - review and editing

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Correspondence to Guanghui Wang.

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Highlights

1. Torrefaction treatment improved the storage performance of Caragana pellets significantly.

2. Torrefaction temperature contributed more to the fuel properties than the residence time.

3. Torrefaction with low residence time can also achieve high fuel properties of Caragana pellet.

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Yu, Y., Zhu, Z., Wang, L. et al. Effect of Torrefaction Treatment on Physical and Fuel Properties of Caragana (Caragana korshinskii) Pellets. Bioenerg. Res. 14, 1277–1288 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10235-3

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