Recent Advances in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Technologies

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Thermal Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 1917

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
INIAV - Instituto de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Avenida da República, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, Portugal, and IDMEC, Mechanical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: forest management; energy cultivations; thermochemical conrsion od biomass; carbon sequestration; biomass economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IDMEC, Mechanical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: biomass valorization (agriculture and forest biomass); biomass conversion processes (e.g., combustion, carbonization, pyrolysis, and gasification); emission; biofuels and biofertilizers; energy and environment (decarbonization); life cycle analysis; sustainability; biomass and society
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biomass valorization is one important step to invert the global dependence on fossil fuels and to comply with the European Renewable Energy Directive, the European targets 2020–2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, it is still necessary to optimize and exploit biomass.

Biomass can be used for different purposes, such as bioenergy (heat, electricity, transport fuels, biogas for industrial and domestic use), food (vegetables, meat, among others), biomaterials (paper, construction material, chemicals, cotton, fibers, fertilizers, soil corrector, among others) and animal feed. A strategic driver for a successful bio-based economy will be the development of systems that allow for the highly efficient and cost-effective processing of bio-based raw materials into a range of bio-based products, while also aiming to reduce GHG emissions and efficient use. Multiple biomasses can be processed in a single conversion process or in a combination of integrated processes. Depending on its composition, the biomass can be used in thermochemical biomass conversion technologies such as combustion, pyrolysis and gasification, to produce different products. The development and improvement of innovative technical methods are of great significance for improving the processing procedures and utilization efficiency of biomass and for decreasing the accompanying adverse effects (such as environmental pollution and energy consumption).

It is with great pleasure that I invite authors to submit articles to this Special Issue, so that together we can help make the world more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This Special Issue addresses various topics, including: residual biomass; conversion technology (carbonization, pyrolysis, gasification, combustion); renewable energy; biofuels; hydrogen; biochar; biofertilizers; energy; emissions; life cycle analysis and sustainability.

Dr. Abel Rodrigues
Dr. Ana Ferreira
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • residual biomass
  • conversion technology
  • renewable energy
  • biofuels
  • hydrogen
  • biofertilizers
  • energy
  • emissions
  • life cycle analysis
  • sustainability

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2348 KiB  
Article
Biochar from Agro-Forest Residue: Application Perspective Based on Decision Support Analysis
by Tsvetelina Petrova, Iliyana Naydenova, João Ribau and Ana F. Ferreira
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3240; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053240 - 03 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1621
Abstract
The present work aims at (a) carbonizing agriculture biomass residue; (b) characterizing the obtained biochar; and (c) exploring its potential use for energy/resource recovery purposes. Six types of biomass were carbonized. The biochar was investigated through scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray [...] Read more.
The present work aims at (a) carbonizing agriculture biomass residue; (b) characterizing the obtained biochar; and (c) exploring its potential use for energy/resource recovery purposes. Six types of biomass were carbonized. The biochar was investigated through scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detector, thermogravimetric (TGA), proximate, ultimate, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analyses, along with bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, and salt content measurements. The results served as input data for multi-criteria, multi-objective decision analysis of biochar, aiming to evaluate its best application prospective. The TGA identified two general stages: devolatilization (stage 2: 180–560 °C), and combustion (stage 3: 560–720 °C). The activation energy of stage 2 decreased with an increasing heating rate, but the opposite trend was observed for stage 3. The biochar CO2 adsorption suggested possible applications beyond energy conversion technologies. The decision support analysis revealed that peach stones, cherry stones, and grape pomace biochar achieved the most promising results for all evaluated applications (biofuel; catalyst; CO2 sequestration and soil amendment; supercapacitor) in contrast to colza, softwood, or sunflower husks char. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Technologies)
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