In the course, students will be introduced to thermochemical conversions as very effective methods for converting biomass and fuel from waste to useful energy, chemicals (including renewable fertilizers), and gaseous and liquid fuels. The course will discuss various processes of thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste fuels, such as dry and hydrothermal processes (torrefaction, carbonization, pyrolysis, gasification, combustion, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)).

Student responsibilities:

Attendance and active participation in lectures and exercises. Preparations of homeworks and seminars.

Grading and evaluation of student work over the course of instruction and at a final exam:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to (learning outcomes):

1 . After successfully completing the course, the student will be able to compare the main methods of thermochemical conversions of biomass and fuel from waste.

2 . The student will be able to categorize the products of different thermochemical processes: bio-oil, pyrolytic oil, char, synthetic gas, hydrogen, biofuels, HT oil, HT char.

3 . The student will be able to calculate the lower calorific values of biomass and waste fuels based on their composition.

4 . The student will be able to distinguish the main processes and mechanisms of reactions in the most important thermochemical conversions of biomass and fuels from waste: pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion.

5 . The student will be capable to calculate the mass and heat balance for the most important thermochemical processes of conversion of biomass and fuels from waste.

6 . The student will be able to sketch a basic diagram of the thermochemical conversion model for a single fuel particle.

7 . The student will be able to draw schematic diagrams of plants based on the most important thermochemical processes of conversion of biomass and fuels from waste.

Lectures

1. Introduction to biomass and waste fuel resources. Definitions. Properties (physical, chemical) and characteristics of solid fuels - biomass and waste fuels.

2. Categorization of the most important methods of thermochemical conversions of biomass and waste fuels; division into dry and hydrothermal processes. Preparation (pre-treatment) of fuel.

3. Dry thermochemical processes I: torrefaction and carbonization

4. Dry thermochemical processes II: pyrolysis

5. Dry thermochemical processes III: gasification

6. Dry thermochemical processes IV: combustion (including fluidized bed)

7. Hydrothermal thermochemical processes: hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL).

8. Analysis of products of thermochemical processes: bio-oil, pyrolytic oil, char, synthetic gas, hydrogen, biofuels, HT oil, HT char. Emission limit values of pollutant emissions from thermochemical processes.

9. Heat and mass transfer in selected processes of thermochemical conversion of solid biomass and waste fuels.

10. Principles and mechanisms of reactions in pyrolysis, gasification and combustion.

11. Processes of drying and devolatilization of fuel particles.

12. Char combustion and gasification processes.

13. Fundamentals of thermochemical conversion model for a single particle.

14. Technologies in the application of thermochemical conversions: reactors (gasifiers), pyrolizers, furnaces, boilers.

15. Integration into energy systems (e.g. steam cycle, CHP, biorefineries, synthetic gas and bio-oil/pyrolytic upgrading).

Exercises

1. Determining the composition of solid fuels - biomass and waste fuels (elemental and proximate analysis).

2. Determination of the lower heating value of biomass and fuel from waste. TGA curves.

3. Mass balance of the process.

4. Heat balance of the process.

5. Reaction mechanisms in pyrolysis, degassing and combustion.

6. Drying and devolatilization of fuel particles.

7. Char combustion and gasification.

8. Analysis of properties and characteristics of products of thermochemical processes I: bio-oil, pyrolytic oil, char, synthetic gas, hydrogen, HT oil, HT char.

9. Analysis of properties and characteristics of products of thermochemical processes II: bio-oil, pyrolytic oil, char, synthetic gas, hydrogen, HT oil, HT char.

10. Calculation of pollutant emissions from selected thermochemical processes.

11. Model of thermochemical conversion for single particle I

12. Model of thermochemical conversion for single particle II

13. Examples of real plants in the world.

14. Seminar paper I

15. Seminar paper II

Compulsory literature:

1. Progress in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion, Editor: A. V. Bridgwater, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; Blackwell Science Ltd, 2001, p. 0-0

4. Thermochemical Processing of Biomass: Conversion into Fuels, Chemicals and Power, Robert C. Brown, John Wiley & Sons, 2015, p. 0-0

Recommended literature:

2. Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Liquid Fuels and Chemicals, Mark Crocker, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010, p. 0-0

3. Recent Advances in Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass, Ashok Pandey, Thallada Bhaskar, M. Stöcker, Rajeev Sukumaran, Elsevier, 2015, p. 3-30