The Role of Biomass Composition and Steam Treatment on Durability of Pellets

Tang, Yong; Chandra, Richard P.; Sokhansanj, Shahab; Saddler, Jack N.

doi:10.1007/s12155-018-9900-9

Title: The Role of Biomass Composition and Steam Treatment on Durability of Pellets

Journal Article · 03 March 2018 · BioEnergy Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-018-9900-9 · OSTI ID:1435183

^[1]; Chandra, Richard P. ^[2]; Sokhansanj, Shahab ^[3]; Saddler, Jack N. ^[1]

University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada). Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group and Department of Wood Science, Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy Group, Faculty of Forestry
University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada). Department of Wood Science, Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy Group, Faculty of Forestry
University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada). Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division

Steam treatment has been reported to improve the durability of wood pellet likely by changing the physical and chemical structures of wood particles, but published literature is inconclusive about which structure change is the major reason for enhanced durability. Here, in this paper, steam treatment was combined either with alkaline or with SO₂ to study. The solids obtained after steam treatments along with a control sample were dried and each was compacted into pellets. The pellets were then tested for durability. Steam treatment alone dominated improvements in durability. The pellet durability increased with the amount of xylose, but xylose performed better in the pellet from raw poplar than did in the pellet from treated poplar. Water-soluble components contributed a maximum 4% of the durability of poplar pellets. The addition of lignin and sugars to substrates after steam treatment did not improve durability significantly. The surface modification that took place as a result of size reduction during steam treatment was the major reason, contributing about 50% of the durability of the pellet from steam-treated poplar. The acidity of steam treatment slightly affected the relative contributions of these structure changes on the durability. Lastly, the new knowledge helps tailor the chemical and/or mechanical pretreatment involved in pelleting biomass to durable pellets.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1435183

Journal Information:: BioEnergy Research, Vol. 11, Issue 2; ISSN 1939-1234

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (27)

Influence of xylan on the enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-pretreated corn stover and hybrid poplar Bura, Renata; Chandra, Richard; Saddler, Jack Biotechnology Progress, Vol. 25, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/btpr.98	journal	March 2009
Investigation on wood pellet quality and relationship between ash content and the most important chemical elements Toscano, G.; Riva, G.; Foppa Pedretti, E. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 56 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.05.012	journal	September 2013
Process Conditions Affecting the Physical Quality of Alfalfa Pellets Applied Engineering in Agriculture, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.25658	journal	January 1996
The lignin present in steam pretreated softwood binds enzymes and limits cellulose accessibility Kumar, Linoj; Arantes, Valdeir; Chandra, Richard Bioresource Technology, Vol. 103, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.09.091	journal	January 2012
A review of biomass densification systems to develop uniform feedstock commodities for bioenergy application Tumuluru, Jaya Shankar; Wright, Christopher T.; Hess, J. Richard Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.324	journal	October 2011
A two-stage pretreatment approach to maximise sugar yield and enhance reactive lignin recovery from poplar wood chips Panagiotopoulos, I. A.; Chandra, R. P.; Saddler, J. N. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 130 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.12.093	journal	February 2013
Poplar ( Populus deltoides L.): The Effect of Washing Pretreated Biomass on Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation to Ethanol Frederick, Noaa; Zhang, Ningning; Ge, Xumeng ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 2, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/sc500188s	journal	June 2014
Enzymatic hydrolysis of pelletized AFEX™-treated corn stover at high solid loadings: Hydrolysis of Pelletized AFEX Corn Stover Bals, Bryan D.; Gunawan, Christa; Moore, Janette Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 111, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.25022	journal	September 2013
A versatile toolkit for high throughput functional genomics with Trichoderma reesei Schuster, Andre; Bruno, Kenneth S.; Collett, James R. Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-5-1	journal	January 2012
Steam Explosion of the Softwood Pinus Radiata with Sulphur Dioxide Addition. II. Process Characterisation Clark, T. A.; Mackie, K. L.; Dare, P. H. Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology, Vol. 9, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1080/02773818908050291	journal	June 1989
Effect of Inhibitors Released during Steam-Explosion Treatment of Poplar Wood on Subsequent Enzymatic Hydrolysis and SSF Cantarella, Maria; Cantarella, Laura; Gallifuoco, Alberto Biotechnology Progress, Vol. 20, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/bp0257978	journal	January 2004
Integrated process of starch ethanol and cellulosic lactic acid for ethanol and lactic acid production Tang, Yong; Zhu, Liwei; Zhang, Weiming Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol. 97, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4461-x	journal	October 2012
Pseudo-lignin and pretreatment chemistry Sannigrahi, Poulomi; Kim, Dong Ho; Jung, Seokwon Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/C0EE00378F	journal	January 2011
Deposition of Lignin Droplets Produced During Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Maize Stems Retards Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose Selig, M. J.; Viamajala, S.; Decker, S. R. Biotechnology Progress, Vol. 23, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/bp0702018	journal	December 2007
Carbon materials obtained from self-binding sugar cane bagasse and deciduous wood residues plastics Zandersons, J.; Gravitis, J.; Zhurinsh, A. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(03)00126-0	journal	April 2004
Does densification influence the steam pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of softwoods to sugars? Kumar, Linoj; Tooyserkani, Zahra; Sokhansanj, Shahab Bioresource Technology, Vol. 121, p. 190-198 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.06.049	journal	October 2012
The Effect of Biomass Densification on Structural Sugar Release and Yield in Biofuel Feedstock and Feedstock Blends Wolfrum, Edward J.; Nagle, Nicholas J.; Ness, Ryan M. BioEnergy Research, Vol. 10, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-017-9813-z	journal	January 2017
Experimental trials to make wheat straw pellets with wood residue and binders Lu, Donghui; Tabil, Lope G.; Wang, Decheng Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 69 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.07.029	journal	October 2014
Review of current and future softwood kraft lignin process chemistry Chakar, Fadi S.; Ragauskas, Arthur J. Industrial Crops and Products, Vol. 20, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2004.04.016	journal	September 2004
Sustainable biomass supply chains from salvage logging of fire-killed stands: A case study for wood pellet production in eastern Canada Mansuy, Nicolas; Thiffault, Evelyne; Lemieux, Sébastien Applied Energy, Vol. 154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.04.048	journal	September 2015
Pretreatment technologies for an efficient bioethanol production process based on enzymatic hydrolysis: A review Alvira, P.; Tomás-Pejó, E.; Ballesteros, M. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 101, Issue 13, p. 4851-4861 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.11.093	journal	July 2010
Mapping the lignin distribution in pretreated sugarcane bagasse by confocal and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy Coletta, Vitor Carlos; Rezende, Camila Alves; da Conceição, Fernando Rodrigues Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-6-43	journal	January 2013
Lignin depolymerization/repolymerization and its critical role for delignification of aspen wood by steam explosion Li, Jiebing; Henriksson, Gunnar; Gellerstedt, Göran Bioresource Technology, Vol. 98, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2006.10.018	journal	November 2007
Effect of Sulphur Dioxide and Sulphuric Acid on Steam Explosion of Aspenwood Mackie, K. L.; Brownell, H. H.; West, K. L. Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/02773818508085202	journal	January 1985
Prediction of ISO 17831-1:2015 mechanical biofuel pellet durability from single pellet characterization Larsson, Sylvia H.; Samuelsson, Robert Fuel Processing Technology, Vol. 163 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2017.04.004	journal	August 2017
Mechanical and compositional characteristics of steam-treated Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii L.) during pelletization Lam, Pak Sui; Lam, Pak Yiu; Sokhansanj, Shahab Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 56 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.05.001	journal	September 2013
Effect of Additives on Wood Pellet Physical and Thermal Characteristics: A Review Tarasov, Dmitry; Shahi, Chander; Leitch, Mathew ISRN Forestry, Vol. 2013 https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/876939	journal	January 2013