Modelling the Suitability of Pine Sawdust for Energy Production via Biomass Steam Explosion

Abstract

Biomass material as a source of fuel is difficult to handle, transport, store, and utilize in its original form. To overcome these challenges and make it suitable for energy prodution, the material must be pre-treated. Biomass steam explosion is one of the promising pretreatment methods where moisture and hemicellulose are removed in order to improve biomass storage and fuel properties. This paper is aimed to model the suitability of pine saw dust for energy production through steam explosion process. The peak property method was used to determine the kinetic parameters. The model has shown that suitable operating conditions for steam explosion process to remove moisture and hemicellulose from pine sawdust. The temperature and pressure ranges attained in the current study are 260 - 317 ˚C (533 - 590 K), 4.7 - 10.8 MPa, respectively.