TITLE:
Modelling the Suitability of Pine Sawdust for Energy Production via Biomass Steam Explosion
AUTHORS:
Zephania Chaula, Mahir Said, Geoffrey John, Samwel Manyele, Cuthbert Mhilu
KEYWORDS:
Biomass Pretreatment; Hemicellulose; Kinetics; Pine Sawdust; Steam Explosion
JOURNAL NAME:
Smart Grid and Renewable Energy,
Vol.5 No.1,
January
22,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Biomass
material as a source of fuel is difficult to handle, transport, store, and
utilize in its original form. To overcome these challenges and make it suitable
for energy prodution, the material must be pre-treated. Biomass steam explosion
is one of the promising pretreatment methods where moisture and hemicellulose
are removed in order to improve biomass storage and fuel properties. This paper
is aimed to model the suitability of pine saw dust for energy production
through steam explosion process. The peak property method was used to determine
the kinetic parameters. The model has shown that suitable operating conditions
for steam explosion process to remove moisture and hemicellulose from pine
sawdust. The temperature and pressure ranges attained in the current study are 260 -317 ℃ (533 -590 K), 4.7 -10.8 MPa, respectively.