Collaborative Research: Combustion Behavior of Hydrochars from Wet Biomass

合作研究：湿生物质中水炭的燃烧行为

• 批准号: 2031916
• 负责人: Jillian Goldfarb
• 金额: $ 27.95万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2031916&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Combustion; Behavior; Hydrochars

Carbon-based waste from everyday sources, like landfills, agricultural processes, wastewater treatment, and more, are typically “wet” wastes, which makes them difficult to convert to biofuels using traditional methods. This work focuses on a process called “hydrothermal carbonization” (HTC), which converts these already wet bio-materials into high-grade fuels, which is both more efficient and cost effective than typical methods. The resultant fuel is known as “hydrochar,” a carbon-condensed solid often referred to as bio-coal for its “coal-like” properties. Compared to coal combustion, hydrochars emit fewer hazardous air pollutants and have a near net-zero CO2 impact. During the formation of these hydrochars, however, a tar-like substance forms on the surface, which initial research suggests could significantly change their combustion behavior. The goal of this work is two-fold: first, understand the formation pathways and chemical composition of the tar-like substance and second, understand the impact that the tar-like substance has on important combustion behaviors like ignition and particle burn-out. The work will include a close collaboration between different fields, bringing the fields of fuel synthesis and combustion closer through carefully-designed experiments. Significant outreach to both technical communities and the industries they support will support the adoption of hydrochars as a replacement for coal in energy production. The ability to use such renewable solid fuels for energy generation can help mitigate climate change and transform the U.S. into a green energy exporter and job opportunity creator. To fill such high-tech positions, we need a diverse workforce; the PIs – tenure-track female professors at Cornell and Penn State – both have strong track records training students from under-represented groups. At least two graduate and two undergraduate students will be trained on this project.Hydrothermal carbonization is widely touted for its ability to transform moist biomass streams into renewable solid fuels that could be used as replacements for coal in energy generation. Despite the potential benefits of HTC for waste management, a reactive amorphous secondary char often forms on the surface of the solid hydrochar during carbonization. This secondary char may hamper the ability of these “bio-coals” to be used as drop-in fuels for combustion due to the drastically different reactivity of the secondary char. To date, the renewable fuels literature characterizes hydrochars only through thermogravimetric analysis of rapid oxidation, not true combustion behavior. As such, we know little about their combustion behavior, relying only on basic fuel characterizations to gauge this renewable solid fuel’s potential. The goal of the work – the first study of its kind – is to understand the fundamental combustion behavior of biomass-based hydrochars, a solid fuel with unique burning characteristics. The work will improve our fundamental understanding of (1) the mechanisms of hydrothermal carbonization and (2) the combustion behavior of renewable solid fuels with condensed tarry phases. A key broader impact of the proposed work is to rigorously connect two (surprisingly) disparate fields – Renewable Fuel Science and Combustion Science. The closely-coupled work between the PIs will provide not only a scientific foundation for linking these two communities, but the PIs will actively participate in each other’s research communities to bridge the gap. The PIs will work with an HTC technology development firm to disseminate information to the designers of large-scale HTC processing equipment and potential customers interested in firing hydrochars for energy generation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

来自垃圾填埋场、农业加工、废水处理等日常来源的碳基废物通常是“湿”废物，这使得它们很难用传统方法转化为生物燃料。这项工作的重点是一种被称为水热碳化(HTC)的过程，它将这些已经潮湿的生物材料转化为高级燃料，这比典型的方法更高效、更具成本效益。生成的燃料被称为“加氢焦”，这是一种碳凝聚的固体，由于其“类煤”的特性，通常被称为生物煤。与煤炭燃烧相比，氢化碳排放的有害空气污染物更少，二氧化碳的影响几乎为零。然而，在这些氢焦的形成过程中，表面会形成一种类似焦油的物质，初步研究表明，这可能会显著改变它们的燃烧行为。这项工作的目标有两个：一是了解类焦油物质的形成途径和化学成分，二是了解类焦油物质对着火和颗粒燃尽等重要燃烧行为的影响。这项工作将包括不同领域之间的密切合作，通过精心设计的实验使燃料合成和燃烧领域更加紧密。对技术界和他们所支持的行业的重大宣传将支持在能源生产中采用氢化碳作为煤炭的替代品。使用这种可再生固体燃料发电的能力可以帮助缓解气候变化，并将美国转变为绿色能源出口国和就业机会创造者。要填补这样的高科技职位，我们需要一支多元化的劳动力队伍；PI--康奈尔大学和宾夕法尼亚州立大学跟踪终身教职的女教授--都有良好的记录，培训来自代表性不足群体的学生。至少有两名研究生和两名本科生将接受这一项目的培训。水热碳化被广泛吹捧为能够将潮湿的生物质流转化为可再生固体燃料的能力，这些固体燃料可以在能源生产中用作煤炭的替代品。尽管HTC在废物管理方面有潜在的好处，但在碳化过程中，固体加氢焦的表面经常会形成反应性的无定形二次焦。由于二次焦的反应性截然不同，这种二次焦可能会阻碍这些“生物煤”用作替代燃料进行燃烧。到目前为止，可再生燃料文献仅通过热重分析快速氧化来表征氢焦，而不是真实的燃烧行为。因此，我们对它们的燃烧行为知之甚少，只依靠基本的燃料特性来衡量这种可再生固体燃料的潜力。这项工作的目标是了解基于生物质的氢焦的基本燃烧行为，这是此类研究中的第一项，生物质氢焦是一种具有独特燃烧特性的固体燃料。这项工作将加深我们对(1)水热碳化机理和(2)凝聚焦油相可再生固体燃料的燃烧行为的基本认识。这项拟议工作的一个关键的更广泛的影响是将两个(令人惊讶的)完全不同的领域--可再生燃料科学和燃烧科学--严格联系起来。私人投资机构之间紧密结合的工作不仅将为连接这两个社区提供科学基础，而且私人投资机构将积极参与彼此的研究社区，以弥合差距。PIS将与一家HTC技术开发公司合作，向大型HTC加工设备的设计者和有兴趣使用氢气发电的潜在客户传播信息。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Impact of Bentonite Clay on In Situ Pyrolysis vs. Hydrothermal Carbonization of Avocado Pit Biomass

• DOI: 10.3390/catal12060655
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: Catalysts
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Madeline Karod;Zoe A. Pollard;M. T. Ahmad;Guolan Dou;Lihui Gao;Jillian L. Goldfarb

Developing Decision-Making Tools for Food Waste Management via Spatially Explicit Integration of Experimental Hydrothermal Carbonization Data and Computational Models Using New York as a Case Study

以纽约为例，通过实验热液碳化数据和计算模型的空间显式集成，开发食物垃圾管理决策工具

• DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c04188
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
• 影响因子: 8.4
• 作者: Kassem, Nazih;Pecchi, Matteo;Maag, Alex R.;Baratieri, Marco;Tester, Jefferson W.;Goldfarb, Jillian L.
• 通讯作者: Goldfarb, Jillian L.