Bio-Energy II - Conference Program

List of speakers, talks and more

Bio-Energy II - Conference Program

List of speakers, talks and more

Adhesives from biomass pyrolysis

Fast pyrolysis of waste biomass with high lignin content, such as birch wood, birch bark, hydrolysis lignin, kraft lignin or low-cost digestate from biogas production, provides oils that can be substituted for phenol in phenol-formaldehyde resins. Biomass fast pyrolysis was performed in a dedicated fluidized bed pyrolyzer that incorporated two crucial innovations: a fractional condensation train provided dry bio-oils with ~1% of moisture and much reduced acidity; autothermal pyrolysis with partial oxidation reduces operating and capital costs, as well as increasing the quality of the dry bio-oil. Dry bio-oil obtained from autothermal fast pyrolysis of kraft lignin can be used to substitute up to 80% of phenol in reacting with formaldehyde to produce wood adhesives that met International Standards, including specifications on the dry and wet mechanical strength and formaldehyde emission (Figure 1). With dry bio-oils from the low-cost residues (birch wood, birch bark, hydrolysis lignin, or digestate), the substitution level can be 50~65%. In addition, there is no need to change the hot press temperature or curing time from the current settings for pure phenol resin. The mechanical strength and formaldehyde emission levels of the bonded plywood are affected by the phenol substitution ratio, and the concentration and molecular weight of the phenolics in the dry bio-oil. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Development and study of measurement methods for bogging in a fluidized bed

In the Fluid CokingTM process, heavy oil is contacted with hot fluidized coke particles. If the local concentration of liquid is too high, particles may stick together, resulting in poor fluidization or even defluidization, a condition commonly known as bogging . Earlier studies, presented at Fluidization XIV, used capacitance sensors to show how bogging affects bubble properties and the distribution of liquid sprayed into a fluidized bed. The objective of this study is to identify other, more practical methods for early bogging detection. Methods using pressure measurements or active sound transmission are presented. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of the wavelet coefficients of pressure fluctuations, optimised with a genetic algorithm, can detect early bogging more effectively than other methods using pressure fluctuations. A major advantage of this method is that its results are not affected by moderate variations in fluidization gas velocity. The success of this new bogging detection method is explained by studying the transmission of sound of different frequencies through dry and wet fluidized beds, which could also be used to detect bogging. A theoretical model confirmed that the changes in bubble properties caused by bogging affect the transmission of sound through the fluidized bed. The geometry of the gas bubbles and their distance from the wall were measured with capacitance sensors to understand how bubble properties affect sound transmission. The propagation of sound with bubbles of various geometries was simulated with Comsol

Pyrolysis of residues from well-established biochemical processes for biomass conversion into liquid fuel

This project focuses on the pyrolysis of residues from well-established biochemical processes into liquid fuel. The residues examined come from two major conversion processes; wastewater treatment facilities, and biogas digesters. These processes produce low value, unconverted residues that are refractory to further biochemical conversion. Pyrolysis is an aggressive thermochemical conversion process that is ideally suited to such residues. Currently, these residues are viewed as a low-value or waste products that must be disposed of. The environmentally friendly disposal of wastewater sludge is a common problem for many municipalities, where the sludge is often incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Anaerobic digestate can be used as a soil amendment but is often landfilled as waste. The key goal of this project is to find a solution to the disposal issues associated with these residues, while improving the overall process economics, through the production of high quality bio-oil and bio-char streams. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract