Life cycle assessment of biomass use in the torrefaction process

Abstract

This paper presents comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) for biomass use in the torrefaction process. The analysis took into account the climate change category for a time horizon of 100 years. It considered subsequent stages of biomass life cycle, i.e., the stage of biomass preparation for the torrefaction process, starting from its transport until its processing (thermal treatment) on torrefaction installation. Palm kernel shell (PKS) and Polish woodchips were selected as the biomass to be analyzed. The functional unit was selected to be 1 Mg of torrefied biomass. The torrefaction process was carried out in an installation at the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal (ICPC). The analysis showed that among the considered life stages of PKS and woodchips, the biggest environmental load indicates the torrefaction stage. The estimated environmental effect is several orders of magnitude larger in comparison with other stages of biomass life.