The environmental performance of torrefied microalgae biomass using torrefaction severity factor

College

Gokongwei College of Engineering

Department/Unit

Mechanical Engineering

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Source Title

2019 IEEE 11th International Conference on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control, Environment, and Management, HNICEM 2019

Publication Date

11-1-2019

Abstract

Torrefaction is a thermochemical process for upgrading raw biomass into a more energy-dense fuel. However, the production of torrefied microalgae biochar may include environmental impact as it consumes raw materials and energy. In this study, a life cycle assessment study was conducted to understand and assess the corresponding global warming potential associated with the production of torrefied microalgae biomass, using a cradle-to-gate scope. Using different scale models of torrefied microalgae biomass production, this study identifies the contribution of the torrefaction process to the overall environmental impact. Using the experimental data, the study was able to analyze the impact of the torrefaction process on biomass thermal degradation using the torrefaction severity factor. The inclusion of the torrefaction severity factor shows that there was a strong relationship on the resulted global warming potential. It revealed that the influence of the torrefaction temperature was higher as compared to the torrefaction duration.Result of the study shows that the torrefaction process had a minimal contribution of 1-20% to the resulted overall environmental impacts. The overall impact shows that up-scaling production can result in a negative carbon dioxide emission. © 2019 IEEE.

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Digitial Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1109/HNICEM48295.2019.9072896

Disciplines

Mechanical Engineering

Keywords

Microalgae; Life cycle costing; Carbon dioxide; Biomass energy

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