Limits of variations on the structure and the fuel characteristics of sunflower seed shell through torrefaction

E. Bilgic, S. Yaman*, H. Haykiri-Acma, S. Kucukbayrak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sunflower seed shell (SSS) that is a woody waste biomass was torrefied at 300 °C which is the upper limit of torrefaction temperature to monitor the most severe variations on chemistry, morphology, functional groups, and the burning characteristics of biomass. Since, this biomass is rich in holocellulose (hemicellulosics + cellulosics) and relatively poor in lignin contents, it offers opportunity to observe the heat-induced variations on a woody biomass. Besides, the effects of torrefaction on SSS were firstly investigated in this paper. Comparison of H/C and O/C ratios before and after torrefaction revealed that the composition of SSS moved from nearly a cellulosic model to a point between lignite and subbituminous coal. It was also concluded that the torrefaction should be implemented at around the upper temperature limit to assure effective removal of volatiles and to improve the biomass. However, the residence time should be optimized to justify the effectiveness of torrefaction and to avoid the loss of carbon.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)197-202
Number of pages6
JournalFuel Processing Technology
Volume144
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Sunflower
  • Surface functionalities
  • Temperature
  • Torrefaction

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