<p> Torrefaction is a thermal pre-treatment process used to enhance the properties of biomass, including calorific value, hydrophobicity, and grindability, which makes it economically viable as fuel. Bagasse has a strong potential as a fuel when torrefied and can be used in many commercial applications. This research primarily focuses on the evaluation of bagasse as a potential feedstock to produce solid fuel comparable to coal using torrefaction and investigation of torrefaction process parameters. </p><p> Bagasse was torrefied at five different temperatures, 250°C, 270°C, 290°C, 310°C, and 330°C, for 1 hour to investigate the effect of temperature on degree of torrefaction. It was noticed that an increase in temperature improved the degree of torrefaction. This enhanced degree of torrefaction improved the properties of bagasse by reducing the hydrogen and oxygen contents, thereby increasing the percentage of carbon, which resulted in an increase of higher heating value. Decrease in moisture content was observed with temperature. The permanent gases obtained from the torrefaction mainly had carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide along with traces of hydrogen and methane. With temperature increase in the energy of permanent gases was noticed, and most of the energy was obtained from carbon monoxide. Condensable volatiles were also observed to increase with temperature. </p><p> The effect of residence time was studied by conducting the experiments with residence times 10, 30, and 60 minutes at 330°C. Residence time had a similar effect as that of the temperature enhancing the degree of torrefaction, thereby the fuel properties of bagasse. </p><p> Influence of carrier gas on the torrefaction was studied with different gases at 290°C with 1-hour residence time. The carrier gases used were nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen in 80:20 ratio by volume, steam, synthesized syngas (46.978% N<sub>2</sub>, 17.99% CO<sub>2</sub>, 15.04% H<sub>2</sub>, 14.99% CO, and 5.002% CH<sub>4</sub>), and hydrogen and nitrogen in the ratios of 5:95 and 30:70. When carbon dioxide was used, bagasse had a better degree of torrefaction than that in the presence of nitrogen. It was noticed that steam, syngas, and hydrogen had a better influence on bagasse, enhancing its degree of torrefaction, than carbon dioxide and nitrogen.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10163368 |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| Creators | Ayireddy, Puneeth Reddy |
| Publisher | University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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