Upgrading woody biomass to biocoal using a novel microwave induced plasma technology

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There is a real need to de-carbonise energy production in order that Governments meet their obligations toreduce fossil fuel derived carbon emissions and to meet renewable energy generation targets. Usingsustainable sources of wood as a fuel is one such method of reducing the CO2 emissions associated with energyproduction; however, wood has a high moisture content, low energy density, has variable combustionproperties and there are considerable costs incurred in modifying existing power plants for co-firing.Consequently, power producers are looking increasingly to torrefaction as a method of upgrading woodybiomass to produce energy dense and renewable "biocoal", but technology development has been hamperedby engineering problems and economic issues. The main aim of this proposal is two-fold: to enhance and assessthe techno-economics of using novel microwave induced plasma (MIP) technology to make biocoal; and to usea systems approach to identify the optimum position and scale of the MIP technology within the biomasssupply chain so that the benefits of biocoal can be realised.