Char Oxidation of Torrefied Biomass at High Temperatures and High Heating Rates

AbstractThe char oxidation of a torrefied biomass and its parent material was carried out in an isothermal plug flow reactor (IPFR), which is able to rapidly heat the biomass particles to a maximum temperature of 1400°C at a heating rate of 104°C/s, similar to the real conditions found in power plant furnaces. During each char oxidation test, the residues of biomass particles were collected and analyzed to determine the weight loss based on the ash tracer method. According to the experimental results, it can be concluded that chars produced from a torrefied biomass are less reactive than the ones produced, under the same conditions, from its raw material. The apparent kinetics of the torrefied biomass and its parent material are determined by minimizing the difference between the modeled and the experimental results. The predicted weight loss during char oxidation, using the determined kinetics, agrees well with experimental results