Energy 189 (2019) 116306

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

A comprehensive study of sawdust torrefaction in a dual-

compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed reactor
Ziliang Wang*, C. Jim Lim, John R. Grace
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed (DSRSB) reactor was designed and built to torrefy
Received 1 February 2019 sawdust. The effects on torrefaction performance of temperature from 240 to 300
C, sawdust feedrate
Received in revised form from 600 to 1400 g/h and oxygen concentration from 0 to 9 vol% were explored. The temperature dif-
19 July 2019
ference between the adjacent compartments was limited. Pressure drop across the reactor was affected
Accepted 7 October 2019
by biomass feedrate, and was higher for the downstream compartment than for the upstream one. The
Available online 8 October 2019
weight loss of the sawdust was 9.3e38.2 wt%, while the energy yield was 65.7e99.6%. Oxidative torre-
faction resulted in greater weight loss and lower energy yield than non-oxidative torrefaction. The
Keywords:
Torrefaction
product properties were significantly affected by the reactor temperature and oxygen concentration.
Dual-compartment slot-rectangular Solids, liquid and gaseous products were characterized. The results showed that the DSRSB is a promising
spouted bed reactor for biomass torrefaction.
Temperature © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sawdust
Oxygen
Reactor design

1. Introduction oxygen-containing environment, torrefaction reaction mechanisms

Biomass, an important sustainable and renewable resource, can
partially replace fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas and fine
particulate emissions [1]. Torrefaction, a thermal pre-treatment of
biomass, can enhance chemical and physical properties of biomass
[2,3]. Torrefaction is usually carried out at 200e300
C in the
absence of oxygen at atmospheric pressure. The fibrous and tena-
cious biomass is broken down. Thermal degradation of biomass is
characterized by deoxygenation, mainly from decomposition of
hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl groups [4,5].
Some studies replace some nitrogen by oxygen to torrefy
biomass, referred to as oxidative torrefaction [6e9]. Since oxygen-
containing gas is much easier to acquire (e.g. from flue gas),
oxidative torrefaction is potentially attractive. Most studies
recommend that the oxygen concentration be < 15 vol% [6e8,10].
The oxygen concentration in the flue gas generally varies from 6 to
14 vol% [11]. Torrefied biomass obtained with high oxygen con-
centration has lower solid yield and energy yield, reducing the
torrefaction efficiency and the extent of densification [12]. In an
* Corresponding author. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering,
University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3.
E-mail address: zwang@chbe.ubc.ca (Z. Wang).
include not only dehydration, decomposition and depolymerisa-
tion, but also oxidation reactions, providing heat needed for ther-
mal degradation of the biomass, thereby reducing the heat demand
[1,13].
Torrefaction primarily produces solid product, but also con-
densable liquid and gaseous by-products [14,15]. Thermal degra-
dation is affected by temperature and reaction time. As the
temperature increases and/or the reaction time is extended, more
biomass is lost [2], while more liquid and gaseous products are
generated [14]. The torrefied solid product has higher calorific
value, lower moisture content, more hydrophobicity, less oxygen
and more uniform properties than its parent feedstock. The con-
densable liquid product is composed of water, low-molecular-
weight aromatics and tar [16], whereas the gaseous product con-
tains mostly CO, CO2, H2, CH4.
Previous studies [7,10,12,17e25] show that torrefaction reactors
can be categorized into two classifications: indirectly and directly
heated reactors, on the basis of how heat is transferred to the
biomass particles. Indirectly heated reactors include screw-
conveyors, rotary kilns, and rotary drums, while directly heated
reactors are primarily fixed beds, moving beds, fluidized beds, and
microwave reactors. Indirectly heated reactors are easier to operate
and maintain, but may experience non-uniform heating. Moreover,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116306
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2 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306

directly heated reactors often have higher heat transfer than indi-
rectly heated ones [17,18,26]. Hence, directly heated reactors tend
to have better energy efficiency.
It is critical that torrefaction be conducted with well-mixed
particles and a uniform temperature distribution. Under these cir-
cumstances, the torrefied solid product has uniform properties,
ensuring consistent quality. However, uniformity is often difficult
to achieve in indirectly heated reactors. Spouted beds have excel-
lent gas-solids heat and mass transfer, and vigorous cyclic particle
[27]. Slot-rectangular spouted beds address the scale-up challenge
by extending the width and/or length [28]. When applied to
biomass torrefaction, the torrefied solid product is comparable with
that produced by other directly-heated reactors [6,29,30]. Biomass
particle size, biomass feedrate and reactor temperature are
important parameters influencing the extent of torrefaction in slot-
rectangular spouted beds [29,30]. Previous results have shown that
a single-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed can torrefy
sawdust, with a weight loss of 8e39 wt% and an energy yield of
61e99%. Oxidative torrefaction has also been conducted in a slot-
rectangular spouted bed [6]. Results indicated that the addition of
oxygen can lead to a more uniform temperature distribution in the
reactor, more mass loss of sawdust and retention of less energy in
the solid product.
Multiple-compartment slot-rectangular spouted beds facilitate
scale-up of spouted beds, increasing their potential for industrial
application [31]. Hydrodynamics of the solids and gas and the
stability of a DSRSB can be significantly improved when a sus-
pended partition is employed, and an independent windbox is
provided for each compartment [32e35]. Solids mixing between
adjacent compartments can approach a Lacey mixing index of 0.95,
when the particle size >1 mm [36].
As a directly heated reactor with excellent solids mixing and
stable hydrodynamic characterization, DSRSB is a promising alter-
native to overcome scale-up challenges associated with conven-
tional spouted beds. However, dual-compartment beds have not
been previously applied to torrefaction. In the present work, a
torrefaction facility featuring a new dual-compartment slot-rect-
angular spouted bed (DSRSB) reactor was designed, built and
operated as a biomass torrefier to evaluate and optimize its per-
formance. The produced gas was partially recycled by a customized
blower to reduce the operating cost. The effects of temperature,
biomass feedrate and oxygen content on reactor performance,
solid, gas and condensable liquid products and their properties
were investigated. The results were compared to biomass torre- Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed reactor, (b)
plan view of base. (T1-T7: K-type thermocouples, P: Pressure gauge with a range of
faction in a single-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed
0e103.4 kPa, DP: differential pressure transducer with a range of 0e6.9 kPa)
(SRSB) and in other types of reactor.

2. Material and methods for observation of particle motion in the reactor.

2.1. Experimental set-up and operating conditions
2.1.1. Dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed torrefaction
reactor
The carbon steel dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted
bed reactor, designed based on previous hydrodynamic and mixing
studies [32,36], is shown in Fig. 1(a). The column dimensions were
1000  300  100 mm (height  width  thickness), with a W-type
base of 60
inclination angles. A 6.4 mm thick partition,
100  100 mm in width  height, was suspended rigidly and cen-
trally in the freeboard, with its bottom 320 mm above the base to
stabilize the spouting [32,36]. Two identical slots of 4  30 mm
(width  length), as shown in Fig. 1(b), were installed, one in each
compartment, each connected to an independent windbox of di-
mensions 300  150  100 mm in height  width  thickness. Each
compartment contained five quartz windows of 50.8 mm diameter
Two thermocouples measured gas temperatures in the two in-
dependent windboxes, and five thermocouples were immersed in
the spouted bed at Z ¼ 64, 165 and 267 mm above the top of the slot
inserted 20 mm from the inside wall of the column. A thermo-
couple of Z ¼ 267 mm was present in the freeboard region. A feed
port of diameter 25.4 mm was located on the right (upstream) side
of the reactor, 180 mm above the base. Hereafter, the left and right
compartments are designated the downstream and upstream
compartments respectively. The pressure drop (DP) across the
reactor was measured by two differential pressure transducers,
with one end installed immediately above the distributor, as shown
in Fig. 1(a).
2.1.2. Torrefaction facility and operating procedure
The torrefaction facility, shown schematically in Fig. 2, includes
a preheater, dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed
 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed torrefaction facility.
torrefaction reactor, cyclone, screw-feeder, filter, water cooling
system, blower and after-burner. The experimental operating pro-
cedures for biomass torrefaction in the dual-compartment slot-
rectangular spouted bed reactor were the same as for the single-
compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed reactor utilized in
previous torrefaction work [30]. However, 8.5e13.6 m3/h of the off-
gas was recycled to reduce the operating cost. The recycling blower
was modified from an air compressor (Model: 5Z28B-2, SPEED-
AIRE) by adding a frequency inverter (SMVector Series, Lenze/AC
Tech, USA) to control the motor speed.
Each torrefaction experiment began after pre-heating the col-
umn with air to the required temperature, requiring ~3 h. The
reactor would take 30e90 min to cool down from the pre-
determined reaction temperature to 200
C. With respect of oxy-
gen concentration in the carrier gas, a flue gas analyzer (PS-200,
HORIBA) was connected to a gas sampling port #1 to ascertain the
oxygen concentration prior to feeding biomass.
Torrefied sawdust particles were carried over by the spouting
gas and captured by the cyclone. Solid samples were collected
immediately below the cyclone. Condensable liquid samples were
collected from the liquid sampling port, whereas gas samples were
collected from gas sampling port #2.
2.1.3. Operating conditions
Table 1 summarizes the operating conditions for biomass tor-
refaction in the DSRSB facility. TD refers to torrefaction in the
DSRSB reactor, while OTD refers to oxidative torrefaction in the
same reactor. Runs TD1 to TD9, TD11 and OTD1-OTD5 were
3
repeated. Torrefaction temperatures (T) were nominally 240, 270
and 300
C, the same as those for the single bed SRSB facility
[29,30]. Biomass feed rates (F) were nominally 600, 900 and 1400 g/
h. The oxygen concentration (CO2) in the feed-gas varied from 0 to
9 vol%, as in previous work in a single bed SRSB facility [6]. Tem-
perature, biomass feedrate and oxygen concentration variations
were less than 4% in repeated experiments. Cases TD1-TD9 and
OTD1-OTD7 were conducted for 50 min. Runs TD10 to TD12 were
longer, each lasting 120 min. As indicated in Table 1, some
oxidative-torrefaction experiments were not conducted for safety
reasons. Ums the minimum spouting velocity for the inert particles
was measured at elevated temperatures with air prior to feeding
biomass into the DSRSB reactor. Ums was 0.37, 0.39 and 0.41 m/s for
240, 270 and 300
C, respectively. The superficial gas velocity was
set at 1.2Ums ensuring that the torrefaction experiments could last
for at least 2 h. A preliminary test at 1.1Ums had shown excessive
biomass accumulation in the reactor, whereas pre-tests at 1.3 and
1.4 Ums led to excessive entrainment.
2.2. Experimental materials
Table 2 gives key properties of the experimental biomass, a
spruce-pine-fir (SPF) sawdust from Tolko Industries Ltd., Vernon,
BC, Canada. Based on results from a previous study [30], the
0.5e1.0 mm sieve size fraction of sawdust particles was selected for
this study. This sawdust was pre-dried for 24 h prior to each
experiment. The inert particles were glass beads of 1.0 mm Sauter
mean diameter and 2530 kg/m3 density. As these glass beads were
4 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306

Table 1
Operating conditions for biomass torrefaction experiments in DSRSB reactor.

Case Nominal operating conditions Actual operating conditions

T, F, CO2, t T (
C) F (g/h) CO2 (vol%) t (min)

Non-oxidative torrefaction
TD1 240
C, 600 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 255 ± 4 668 ± 30 0 50
TD2 270
C, 600 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 278 ± 4 610 ± 10 0 50
TD3 300
C, 600 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 304 ± 3 613 ± 12 0 50
TD4 240
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 242 ± 4 930 ± 11 0 50
TD5 270
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 271 ± 3 916 ± 10 0 50
TD6 300
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 301 ± 3 957 ± 10 0 50
TD7 240
C, 1400 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 244 ± 2 1408 ± 50 0 50
TD8 270
C, 1400 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 269 ± 2 1334 ± 32 0 50
TD9 300
C, 1400 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 50 min 303 ± 3 1408 ± 12 0 50
TD10 240
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 120 min 249 1091 0 120
TD11 270
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 120 min 271 ± 2 907 ± 10 0 120
TD12 300
C, 900 g/h, 0 vol% O2, 120 min 300 944 0 120
Oxidative torrefaction
OTD1 240
C, 900 g/h, 3 vol% O2, 50 min 241 ± 3 908 ± 15 3.3 ± 0.2 50
OTD2 240
C, 900 g/h, 6 vol% O2, 50 min 243 ± 3 929 ± 12 6.2 ± 0.3 50
OTD3 240
C, 900 g/h, 9 vol% O2, 50 min 250 ± 2 1046 ± 40 9.0 ± 0.2 50
OTD4 270
C, 900 g/h, 3 vol% O2, 50 min 273 ± 2 920 ± 20 3.6 ± 0.2 50
OTD5 270
C, 900 g/h, 6 vol% O2, 50 min 282 ± 4 946 ± 16 6.4 ± 0.1 50
OTD6 270
C, 900 g/h, 9 vol% O2, 50 min Not done for safety reasons
OTD7 300
C, 900 g/h, 3 vol% O2, 50 min 304 917 3.3 50
OTD8 300
C, 900 g/h, 6 vol% O2, 50 min Not done for safety reasons
OTD9 300
C, 900 g/h, 9 vol% O2, 50 min Not done for safety reasons

±value: Value of standard deviation.

Table 2 higher heating value (HHV) was measured by a bomb calorimeter

Key properties of raw SPF sawdust. (Parr 6100), with sawdust pelletized prior to the measurement to
Parameter (Units) Value ensure controlled combustion. The HHV was determined at least
Size range (mm) 0.5e1.0
three times for each sample.
Sauter mean diameter, dsv (mm) 0.86 To characterize the biomass torrefaction performance in the
Bulk density, rb (kg/m3) 137.6 DSRSB reactor, the weight loss of biomass (X) and the true solid
Moisture content, wet basis (wt.%) 6.2 yield (Y) are defined, respectively, as
Proximate analysis a
Volatiles (wt.%) 84.55    
Mc þ Mr þ Mf
Fixed carbon (wt.%) 15.06 Weight loss X ¼ 1  100% (1)
Ash content (wt.%) 0.39 Mt
Fiber analysis a
Hemicellulose (wt.%) 14.6
Mc
Cellulose (wt.%) 49.0 Y¼  100% (2)
Lignin (wt.%) 27.6 Mc þ Mr
Extractives (wt.%) 8.4
Elemental analysis a where Mt is the total mass of sawdust fed (g), Mc is the mass of
C (wt.%) 46.2 torrefied sawdust captured by cyclone (g), Mr is the mass of tor-
H (wt.%) 6.4
Ob (wt.%) 46.9
refied sawdust remaining in reactor (g) and Mf is the mass of tor-
N (wt.%) <0.1 refied sawdust captured by filter (g).
HHV (MJ/kg) 18.23 The energy yield of sawdust is defined as
a
Dry basis.
b
O ¼ 100-C-H-N-Ash. Energy in torrefied productdry
Energy yield ¼  100%
Energy in raw biomassdry
(3)
spherical with high hardness, attrition was negligible. Mc  HHVc þ Mr  HHVr
¼  100%
Mt  HHV0

2.3. Product characterization
2.3.1. Solid product
Proximate analyses of the raw and torrefied sawdust were
determined by a TGA (Shimadzu, TGA50) and a programmable
furnace, following procedures outlined previously [30]. The volatile
matter of the solid samples was measured by the TGA. The ash
content was determined based on the NREL/TP-510-42622 method.
The fixed carbon content was determined by difference. Elemental
analyses of the raw and torrefied sawdust were provided by a Carlo
Erba EA 1108 elemental analyzer, giving carbon (C), hydrogen (H)
and nitrogen (N) elemental contents of the sample in wt.% on a dry
basis. The oxygen (O) content was estimated by difference. The
where HHV is the higher heating value (MJ/kg); the subscripts 0, c
and r represent initial status, cyclone and reactor, respectively.
2.3.2. Liquid product
The chemical compositions of the condensable liquid were
analyzed by a Gas Chromatograph (Agilent 7820 A GC system)
coupled with a Mass Spectrometer (Agilent 5975 MS detector) from
Agilent Technology (California, United State), with a HP-Innowax
column (60 m  0.250 mm  0.25 mm). Prior to the GC-MS mea-
surements, samples of the condensable liquid were diluted with
acetone to assist in sampling, with an acetone-to-sample mass ratio
of 2:1. The GC injector temperature was set at 250
C, with a split
 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306
ratio of 100:1. During analysis, the GC oven temperature profile was
set to follow the sequence: 50
C for 2 min, next increased to 150
C
at a ramping rate of 15
C/min, next increased to 260
C with a
ramping rate of 5
C/min, then held at 260
C for 5 min. The water
content of the condensable liquid was determined by Karl Fischer
titration (ASTM D1744). Each measurement was made twice at least
for each sample, with the average and standard deviation then
calculated.
2.3.3. Gas product
The CO concentration in the off-gas was measured by a flue gas
analyzer (PS-200, HORIBA) with a measurement range of
0e5000 ppm at 1 s intervals. The concentration of CO2 in the off-gas
was measured by a CO2 detector (Model 906, Quantek Instruments)
with a measurement range of 0e5000 ppm at 1 s intervals. Other
compounds in the off-gas, namely H2, CH4 etc., were present only at
low concentrations, outside the ranges of our GC and flue gas
analyzer (H2 > 0.5 vol%, CH4 > 0.5 vol%). Therefore, only CO and CO2
concentration data were obtained.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. DSRSB reactor performance
3.1.1. Temperature profile of DSRSB for typical torrefaction
Torrefaction reactor temperature is one of most important pa-
rameters affecting the torrefaction process, with the temperature
profile playing a critical role in determining the product quality and
consistency. Fig. 3 shows the temperature time-variation for case
TD6 (for operating conditions, see Table 1). The torrefaction
experiment began at time 0 min after pre-heating the column to
the required temperature. Thermocouples T1 and T2 measured the
temperatures of the carrier gas in the downstream and upstream
windboxes. T3 and T5 measured the temperature at Z ¼ 64 and
165 mm above the slot in the downstream compartment, whereas
T4 and T6 portray the temperatures at the same heights above the
slot in the upstream compartment. T7 is the freeboard temperature
on the upstream side, with its location (Z ¼ 276 mm) much higher
than the initial static bed height of the inert particles
(HB,0 ¼ 176 mm). The DSRSB reactor temperature was calculated as
the average of temperatures from T3 to T6. For example, the average
temperature for case TD6 was 299
C with a 4.9
C standard
Fig. 3. Temperature time-variation for case TD6. See Table 1 for operating conditions.
5
deviation.
Temperatures were sampled at 1 s intervals. In Fig. 3, the inlet
temperatures, T1 and T2, were 318.7 ± 1.5
C and 318.8 ± 1.4
C. They
were very similar, with the highest temperatures measured within
the DSRSB reactor corresponding to the carrier gas heated by a
preheater before entering the DSRSB windbox. In the upstream
compartment, temperatures T4 and T6 first decreased and then
levelled off. The initial decrease resulted from biomass at room
temperature fed into the reactor on the upstream side. It is seen
that T3 (297.3 ± 0.8
C) was greater than T4 (292.4 ± 0.5
C), associ-
ated with the biomass trajectory, with raw particles first fed into
the upstream chamber, then transported to the downstream one.
This also explains why T3 was only slightly affected by the biomass
feeding. It was also found that T5 (305 ± 1.0
C) > T6 (300 ± 0.6
C),
as T6 was close to the biomass feed port, where biomass at room
temperature was continuously fed into the reactor. The standard
deviations of the T1 to T6 temperature readings were all less than
3.5
C. The temperature difference between the two compartments
was about 5
C. Temperature T7 increased with time, because the
bed height gradually increased, causing more particles to contact
the T7 thermocouple.
3.1.2. Pressure drop across DSRSB reactor
Fig. 4 shows the upstream and downstream pressure drops, DP1
and DP2, across the DSRSB reactor for case TD6, measured at 1 s
intervals. It is seen that the two pressure drops were similar for the
initial ~15 min. After that, DP2 increased and was then higher than
DP1, suggesting that more particles moved from the upstream to the
downstream compartment. Over the rest of the experimental time,
DP2 oscillated, with an amplitude of ~700 Pa, about double the
amplitude of DP1 fluctuation. DP2 > DP1 was observed in all torre-
faction runs, indicating that the downstream chamber had a higher
inventory of biomass and inert particles. Note that biomass was
continuously fed into the DSRSB from the upstream side, disturbing
lateral solids mixing between the two compartments. At similar
operating conditions, DP2 was higher than the pressure drop across
the single-compartment SRSB reactor, while DP1 was similar to that
across the SRSB reactor [30]. The bed pressure drop oscillated
during the entire period of torrefaction, while observations through
the quartz windows indicated that the biomass particles and inert
particles mixed well.
3.2. Characteristics of torrefied product
3.2.1. Solid product
3.2.1.1. Solid product yield
(a) Effects of temperature and biomass feedrate
Table 3 gives the weight loss of biomass (X) and the mass yields
in the reactor (Mr), cyclone (Mc) and filter (Mf) for torrefaction ex-
periments with a nitrogen atmosphere in the DSRSB reactor. For
non-oxidative torrefaction, cases TD1-TD9, the weight loss of
biomass, defined by Equation (1), varied from 10.1 to 37.1 wt%. The
weight loss increased with increasing temperature at a given
biomass feed rate. On the other hand, the weight loss decreased as
the biomass feed rate increased from 600 to 1400 g/h at a given
temperature. The weight loss results were comparable to these
obtained from the single-compartment SRSB reactor [29]. To obtain
30 wt% weight loss, a typical desired value for densification [37],
our results suggested a combination of 300
C temperature and
0 vol% oxygen in the spouting gas with a 900 g/h sawdust feedrate.
When the experimental duration was extended from 50 to
120 min, the weight losses of biomass were very similar at 240 and
270
C. However, the weight loss of biomass was greater for case
6 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306

Fig. 4. Pressure drop across DSRSB reactor for case TD6. See Table 1 for operating conditions. See Fig. 1 for definitions of DP1 and DP2.

Table 3 product, both temperature and feedrate have to be considered at

Torrefied product yield and weight loss in torrefaction experiments in DSRSB. the same time.
Casea Mt (g) Mc (g) Mr (g) Mf (g) Y (%) X (%) Fig. 5 summarizes the mass distribution of torrefied biomass in
Non-oxidative torrefaction
the DSRSB facility. As the biomass feed rate increased from 600 to
TD1 557 ± 13 150 ± 3 310 ± 8 10 ± 0 32.6 ± 0.8 15.5 ± 0.3 1400 g/h, the weight loss in the form of volatiles decreased, the
TD2 508 ± 4 142 ± 3 221 ± 6 8±1 39.1 ± 1 27.0 ± 0.6 mass percentage of torrefied product in the reactor decreased, that
TD3 511 ± 5 144 ± 3 173 ± 4 5±0 45.5 ± 1.1 37.1 ± 0.7 in the cyclone increased, and the mass percentage of torrefied
TD4 775 ± 5 270 ± 7 419 ± 7 5±1 39.2 ± 1.0 10.4 ± 0.2
product retained by the filter was barely affected. However, as
TD5 763 ± 4 290 ± 6 300 ± 8 5±0 49.2 ± 1.2 22.2 ± 0.4
TD6 798 ± 4 302 ± 6 232 ± 5 5±0 56.6 ± 1.4 32.5 ± 0.7 noted above and shown in Table 3, the mass of torrefied product
TD7 1173 ± 21 572 ± 11 473 ± 12 10 ± 1 54.8 ± 1.4 10.1 ± 0.2 remaining in the reactor increased when the biomass feed rate
TD8 1112 ± 13 555 ± 11 339 ± 8 10 ± 0 62.1 ± 1.6 18.7 ± 0.4 increased. This is associated with reaction times of biomass parti-
TD9 1173 ± 5 655 ± 16 245 ± 6 10 ± 1 72.8 ± 1.8 22.4 ± 0.6
cles, where a higher biomass feedrate results in a shorter reaction
TD10 2192 1278 700 10 64.6 9.3
TD11 1814 ± 5 924 ± 18 495 ± 12 10 ± 1 65.1 ± 1.6 21.2 ± 0.4
time. Furthermore, the filter captured less than 2 wt% of the tor-
TD12 1888 866 292 10 74.8 38.2 refied sawdust, indicating that the cyclone was working very well
Oxidative torrefaction during the torrefaction experiments.
OTD1 757 ± 6 274 ± 5 382 ± 10 9±0 41.8 ± 1.0 12.2 ± 0.3
OTD2 774 ± 5 277 ± 6 394 ± 10 9±0 41.3 ± 1.0 12.2 ± 0.2
(b) Effect of oxygen concentration
OTD3 872 ± 17 309 ± 8 419 ± 7 10 ± 1 42.4 ± 1.1 15.3 ± 0.3
OTD4 767 ± 8 298 ± 6 268 ± 6 6±0 52.7 ± 1.3 25.4 ± 0.6
OTD5 788 ± 7 328 ± 7 218 ± 5 10 ± 1 60.1 ± 1.5 29.5 ± 0.3 Compared to the non-oxidative torrefaction, it is seen in Table 3
OTD6 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a that the oxygen-containing atmosphere led to increased weight
OTD7 764 229 188 9 54.9 44.2 loss of biomass, due to biomass oxidation and decomposition
OTD8 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
OTD9 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
occurring simultaneously during the oxidative torrefaction [12].
a
Therefore, a lower heater demand was required for oxidative tor-
See Table 1 for actual operating conditions.
refaction to reach the same weight loss, compared to non-oxidative
torrefaction. The weight loss of biomass also increased with
TD12 (120 min duration) than for case TD6 (50 min duration). increasing oxygen concentration at a specific temperature. Hence,
The true yield Y, defined by Equation (2), was found to increase to obtain 30 wt% weight loss, a typical desired value for densifica-
with increasing temperature, due to more reaction and more tion [37], our results suggested that we use a combination of 270
C
entrainment at higher temperature for a given feed rate. At a given temperature and 6 vol% oxygen in the spouting gas with a 900 g/h
temperature, Y increased as the biomass feed rate increased, with Y sawdust feedrate.
> 50% for a feed rate of 1400 g/h. Noted that a higher feed rate leads The true yield, Y, increased with increasing oxygen concentra-
to a shorter residence time of biomass, reducing the effect of tion, indicating that more torrefied biomass was entrained from the
temperature on torrefaction. In order to obtain an optimal torrefied reactor when more oxygen was included in the feed-gas. The
 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306 7

Fig. 5. Mass distribution of raw and torrefied sawdust for biomass torrefaction in DSRSB facility.

greater entrainment is explained by the particles losing more Table 4

weight in the presence of oxygen. Fig. 5 plots the mass distribution Proximate analysis of torrefied sawdust on a dry basis.

of torrefied biomass in the oxidative torrefaction in the DSRSB fa- Casea Cyclone-caught torrefied sawdust Torrefied sawdust from reactor
cility. Comparison to the non-oxidative torrefaction results shows VMc(wt.%) FCc(wt.%) ACc(wt.%) VMr(wt.%) FCr(wt.%) ACr(wt.%)
that adding oxygen to the feed-gas led to decreased product mass
Non-oxidative torrefaction
in the reactor, increased product mass in the cyclone, slightly
TD1 82.6 ± 0.1 17.0 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.02 78.1 ± 0.4 21.4 ± 0.4 0.45 ± 0.03
increased mass captured by the filter, and greater weight loss. TD2 81.8 ± 0.1 17.8 ± 0.2 0.5 ± 0.06 73.8 ± 1.2 25.7 ± 1.2 0.6 ± 0.02
Therefore, it is feasible to increase the amount of the torrefied TD3 80.3 ± 0.1 19.2 ± 0.1 0.5 ± 0.02 69.0 ± 1.0 30.4 ± 1.0 0.6 ± 0.01
product captured by the cyclone by adding oxygen to the spouting TD4 83.5 ± 0.2 16.1 ± 0.2 0.4 ± 0.01 80.4 ± 0.2 19.1 ± 0.2 0.4 ± 0.04
TD5 81.7 ± 0.1 17.8 ± 0.1 0.5 ± 0.09 74.3 ± 0.2 25.2 ± 0.3 0.5 ± 0.10
gas.
TD6 80.3 ± 0.8 19.2 ± 0.8 0.5 ± 0.04 66.2 ± 0.9 33.1 ± 1.0 0.7 ± 0.04
TD7 82.6 ± 0.1 17.0 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.03 79.3 ± 0.6 20.3 ± 0.7 0.4 ± 0.03
3.2.1.2. Properties of solid product TD8 82.6 ± 0.2 17.0 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.02 76.5 ± 0.6 23.0 ± 0.7 0.5 ± 0.02
TD9 81.3 ± 0.3 18.2 ± 0.3 0.5 ± 0.02 60.9 ± 0.4 38.2 ± 0.4 0.9 ± 0.01
TD10 82.8 ± 0.5 17.2 ± 0.5 0.4 ± 0.01 79.6 ± 0.3 20.4 ± 0.3 0.3 ± 0.03
(a) Effects of temperature and biomass feedrate
TD11 80.9 ± 1.2 18.6 ± 1.2 0.4 ± 0.01 75.0 ± 0.6 24.2 ± 0.7 0.5 ± 0.07
TD12 74.4 ± 1.4 25.6 ± 1.4 0.6 ± 0.01 56.2 ± 1.9 43.8 ± 1.9 0.9 ± 0.01
Tables 4e6 show relevant properties of torrefied product ob- Oxidative torrefaction
tained from the cyclone and reactor. As shown in Table 4, it is ex- OTD1 82.8 ± 0.3 16.8 ± 0.3 0.4 ± 0.02 79.1 ± 0.1 20.4 ± 0.2 0.4 ± 0.06
pected that the volatile content of the torrefied sawdust is less than OTD2 82.2 ± 0.6 17.4 ± 0.6 0.4 ± 0.00 78.9 ± 0.1 20.7 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.02
OTD3 81.7 ± 1.2 17.9 ± 1.2 0.4 ± 0.02 77.4 ± 0.4 22.1 ± 0.4 0.4 ± 0.02
that of the raw sawdust. At a given biomass feed rate, the volatile
OTD4 81.1 ± 1.3 18.4 ± 1.3 0.5 ± 0.03 73.8 ± 0.8 25.7 ± 0.5 0.5 ± 0.01
content of the biomass decreased with increasing temperature, OTD5 76.4 ± 0.1 23.1 ± 0.1 0.5 ± 0.03 63.5 ± 0.6 36.0 ± 0.6 0.5 ± 0.03
because decomposition of the biomass is strongly affected by the OTD7 73.4 ± 1.2 26.0 ± 1.2 0.6 ± 0.02 51.7 ± 0.16 47.5 ± 0.2 0.8 ± 0.01
torrefaction temperature [30]. The fixed carbon content increased a
See Table 1 for operating conditions.
with increasing temperature from 240 to 300
C for feedrates of
600, 900 and 1400 g/h, respectively, as a consequence of the
decreased volatile content. In addition, torrefied sawdust from the decarboxylation and dehydration reactions involving hemicellulose
cyclone had greater volatile content and lower fixed carbon content and partially depolymerized cellulose [38,39]. Compared to raw
compared to torrefied sawdust from the reactor, due to longer sawdust, the oxygen content was significantly reduced for all these
residence times of biomass particles remaining at higher sawdust feedrate tests as the temperature increased from 240 to
temperature. 300
C at otherwise identical operating conditions. On the other
Elemental analysis results appear in Table 5. The oxygen present hand, the carbon content of the biomass increased with increasing
in the biomass was reduced with increasing temperature due to
8 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306

Table 5 the reactor was higher than that of the torrefied sawdust from the
Elemental analysis of cyclone-caught torrefied sawdust on a dry basis. cyclone, as a result of longer residence times for biomass particles
Casea C(wt.%) H(wt.%) N(wt.%) O(wt.%) H/C O/C remaining in the reactor.
Non-oxidative torrefaction
Table 6 summarizes the energy yield results for non-oxidative
TD1 50.9 6.1 <0.1 42.5 0.12 0.83 torrefaction experiments. It was also found that energy yield was
TD2 51.4 6.1 <0.1 41.9 0.12 0.82 significantly affected by the temperature and biomass feedrate. As
TD3 51.8 6.1 <0.1 41.5 0.12 0.80 the temperature increased from 240 to 300
C, the energy yield
TD4 50.7 6.1 <0.1 42.7 0.12 0.84
decreased substantially for each sawdust feedrate. When the
TD5 52.4 6.0 <0.1 41.0 0.11 0.78
TD6 52.7 5.9 <0.1 40.8 0.11 0.77 biomass feedrate increased from 600 to 1400 g/h, the energy yield
TD7 50.7 6.1 <0.1 42.7 0.12 0.84 increased, because higher biomass feedrates led to shorter resi-
TD8 51.0 6.1 <0.1 42.4 0.12 0.83 dence times for biomass particles in the reactor.
TD9 52.1 6.0 <0.1 41.3 0.12 0.79
Tables 4e6 also present properties of torrefied sawdust ob-
TD10 51.2 6.1 <0.1 42.2 0.12 0.82
TD11 52.2 6.1 <0.1 41.2 0.12 0.79
tained from extra experiments, TD10-TD12 over an extended
TD12 55.3 5.7 <0.1 38.3 0.1 0.69 120 min time of operation, with the same operating conditions as
Oxidative torrefaction for cases TD4, TD5 and TD6, expecting a longer operating time.
OTD1 50.8 6.1 <0.1 42.6 0.12 0.84 Compared to the TD4, TD5 and TD6, cases with 120 min seem to
OTD2 51.1 6.0 <0.1 42.4 0.12 0.83
experience more severe torrefaction, producing torrefied product
OTD3 52.2 5.9 <0.1 41.4 0.11 0.79
OTD4 52.7 5.6 <0.1 41.1 0.11 0.78 with slightly higher fixed carbon and HHV, but lower volatile and
OTD5 53.6 5.7 <0.1 40.1 0.11 0.75 oxygen contents. The relative difference in fixed carbon and HHV
OTD7 50.9 6.1 <0.1 42.3 0.12 0.83 between the 50 min and 120 min duration cases was less than 8%
a
See Table 1 for operating conditions. and 10%, respectively. This demonstrated that the reactor would
need a discharge port to maintain a constant inventory of particles
in the reactor. This will be investigated in future work.
Table 6
HHV of torrefied sawdust and energy yield on a dry basis.
(b) Effect of oxygen concentration
Casea HHVc (MJ/kg) HHVr (MJ/kg) Energy yield (%)

Non-oxidative torrefaction Tables 4e6 also show the effect of oxygen concentration on the
TD1 19.98 ± 0.01 20.27 ± 0.10 91.5 ± 0.3 properties of the torrefied solid product obtained from the cyclone
TD2 20.05 ± 0.01 21.32 ± 0.01 81.6 ± 0.0 and reactor during oxidative torrefaction. Table 4 provides proxi-
TD3 20.26 ± 0.07 22.62 ± 0.02 73.3 ± 0.3
mate analyses. As expected, the torrefied sawdust always had a
TD4 19.85 ± 0.07 20.09 ± 0.02 97.6 ± 0.2
TD5 19.96 ± 0.22 21.05 ± 0.04 86.9 ± 0.4 lower volatile content than either the raw sawdust or torrefied
TD6 20.21 ± 0.19 23.40 ± 0.21 79.2 ± 0.7 sawdust produced during non-oxidative torrefaction. This was due
TD7 19.56 ± 0.19 20.17 ± 0.12 96.9 ± 0.8 not only to dehydration and devolatilization, but also to oxidation
TD8 19.90 ± 0.02 21.08 ± 0.06 89.7 ± 0.2 [13]. At a given temperature, when oxygen was added to the feed-
TD9 20.29 ± 0.01 24.37 ± 0.06 90.1 ± 0.1
TD10 20.04 ± 0.12 20.52 ± 0.11 99.6
gas, the volatile content of the torrefied product decreased, while
TD11 20.52 ± 0.01 21.39 ± 0.13 89.4 ± 0.2 the fixed carbon content increased. As the oxygen concentration
TD12 21.79 ± 0.01 25.95 ± 0.03 76.8 increased, the volatile content of the torrefied sawdust decreased,
Oxidative torrefaction whereas its fixed carbon content increased. This suggested that
OTD1 19.30 ± 0.65 20.09 ± 0.30 93.9 ± 0.5
small hydrocarbon molecules were more easily liberated in the
OTD2 19.48 ± 0.56 20.17 ± 0.31 94.5 ± 1.9
OTD3 19.63 ± 0.12 20.45 ± 0.12 92.1 ± 0.1 presence of oxygen in the torrefaction experiments, because of
OTD4 20.21 ± 0.04 21.00 ± 0.05 83.3 ± 0.2 biomass oxidation and decomposition [7]. An increase in temper-
OTD5 20.70 ± 0.15 23.07 ± 0.04 82.3 ± 0.3 ature facilitates devolatilization and oxidation processes during
OTD7 20.67 ± 0.72 23.50 ± 0.34 65.7 ± 0.7 torrefaction, especially for the hemicellulose component [6]. The
a
See Table 1 for operating conditions. impact of oxygen on the volatile and fixed carbon contents was
more significant at higher temperature.
Elemental analysis, shown in Table 5, illustrated that the torre-
temperature, benefitting from more deoxygenation reactions. The fied product had higher carbon content than the raw sawdust, but
hydrogen content of the biomass was reduced, resulting from lower oxygen and hydrogen contents, probably due to the release of
reduction of hydroxyl substitutes [40]. Compared to the reduction moisture and decomposition of eCOOH and eOH groups in the
of the oxygen content of the biomass, the reduction in hydrogen biomass [7]. Moreover, the carbon content of oxidatively torrefied
content was less. Compared to raw sawdust, the hydrogen content product was found to be higher than that of the non-oxidatively
of torrefied sawdust was reduced by 3.91e5.01 wt%, 4.23e7.04 wt% torrefied product at all three temperatures: 240, 270 and 300
C.
and 4.54e6.10 wt% for 600, 900 and 1400 g/h feedrates when the This is believed to be because the oxidation of hydrocarbons in the
temperature increased from 240 to 300
C, with otherwise similar biomass plays an important role in decomposing biomass [7,42]. In
operating conditions. addition, the oxygen and hydrogen contents of the solid product
The HHV of the torrefied sawdust was found to be much greater decreased to some extent when the oxygen content of the feed-gas
than that of the raw sawdust. This is regarded as an important increased. These findings are associated with oxidation of
advantage of torrefaction. As the temperature rose from 240 to hydrogen, carbonization of biomass [7] and combustion of volatiles
300
C, Table 6 indicates that the HHV of torrefied sawdust from the released during torrefaction [43].
cyclone increased by 1.4, 1.8 and 3.7%, while the HHV of torrefied Whether the sawdust was torrefied in pure nitrogen or in an
sawdust from the reactor increased by 11.6, 16.5 and 20.8% for the oxygen-containing environment, the HHV of the torrefied product
600, 900 and 1400 g/h feed rates, respectively. The increased HHV was higher than that of the raw sawdust, as shown in Table 6. For
in the torrefied product was due to the release of small molecules operation at 240
C, adding oxygen to the feed-gas resulted in a
(H2O, CO, CO2 etc.), with low HHV being released in the torrefaction slight decrease in HHV for the torrefied product under otherwise
process [41]. Furthermore, the HHV of the torrefied sawdust from similar operating conditions. However, for temperatures of 270 and
 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306 9

300
C, as oxygen was added to the feed-gas, the HHV of the tor-
refied product increased. This indicates that introduction of oxygen
can improve the torrefaction performance at higher temperatures.
This finding is consistent with our results obtained in the SRSB
reactor [6], as well as data reported by Almeida et al. [44] and Wang
et al. [12], but opposite to findings of Chen et al. [7]. Furthermore, as
the oxygen concentration increased from 3 to 9 vol%, the HHV of the
torrefied product increased slightly, likely because cellulose and
lignin mainly contributed to the HHV of the torrefied sawdust [41],
and these two constituents were insensitive to the oxygen con-
centration in the 3e9 vol% range covered.
The energy yield decreased when oxygen was added to the feed-
gas during the torrefaction, with the effect of oxygen concentration
variation more significant at higher temperature. This is because an
increase in temperature has a positive effect on biomass oxidation
and torrefaction in the oxidative torrefaction process. Although the
energy yield drastically decreased with increasing oxygen content
in the feed-gas, 98-66% energy yield is a still reasonable range for
making high-quality pellets [37,45], leading to high-quality bio-oil
or syngas [46].
In addition, compared to the torrefied sawdust obtained from
the cyclone, the torrefied product remaining in the reactor had
lower volatile content, higher fixed carbon content and greater
HHV, due to the longer residence time of the torrefied sawdust
remaining in the reactor.

3.2.1.3. Solid product consistency

(a) Effects of temperature and biomass feedrate on ash content

of torrefied product

Fig. 6 shows the evolution of the ash content of torrefied product

during several torrefaction experiments in the DSRSB reactor. It is
seen that the ash content increased initially, then levelled off. The
initial increase in ash content resulted mainly from biomass
decomposition and release of volatiles during the torrefaction
process, since pre-dried sawdust was used. The levelling off indi-
cated that the torrefied sawdust properties were approaching
constant values. The ash content of the torrefied sawdust increased
as the temperature increased from 240 to 300
C at a given biomass
feedrate. It has been previously reported [30] that the formation of
volatiles during biomass decomposition is mainly influenced by
temperature. In addition, at the same temperature, the ash content
was lower for a higher biomass feedrate, due to a shorter residence
time at the higher biomass feedrate. Furthermore, for 600 and
900 g/h biomass feedrates (Fig. 6 a and b), the ash content of the
torrefied product needed ~10 min to reach a relatively constant
value. However, for a feedrate of 1400 g/h (Fig. 6 c), the ash content
of the torrefied product required ~20 min to approach a constant
level. As shown in Fig. 6 d, when the operating time of the torre-
faction experiment was extended to 120 min, the ash content of the
torrefied product remained constant.
During the experiments, biomass was continuously fed into the
torrefaction reactor, and torrefied biomass was continuously
entrained and captured by a cyclone. In such a reactor, the biomass
particles have different residence times, which follow a nearly
normal distribution. Thus some particles stay inside the reactor for
long periods, while others leave the reactor in seconds. The general
trend is that the ash content of the torrefied biomass first increases
and then levels off with time. Note that the torrefaction tempera-
ture is in the range of 240e300
C, too low to volatize the mineral
matter in the ash.
(b) Effect of oxygen concentration on ash content of torrefied
product
Fig. 6. Effects of temperature and biomass feedrate on evolution of ash content of
cyclone-caught torrefied sawdust: (a) runs TD1 to TD3; (b) runs TD4 to TD6; (c) runs
TD7 to TD9; (d) runs TD10 to TD12. For detailed operating conditions see Table 1.
Fig. 7 plots the effect of oxygen concentration on the evolution
of the ash content of the torrefied product. The ash content evo-
lution in the oxidative torrefaction follows the same trend as for
non-oxidative torrefaction, as shown in Fig. 6. However, the in-
crease in ash content of the torrefied sawdust mainly resulted not
only from biomass decomposition and devolatilization, but also
from oxidation reactions. The levelling off of the ash content of the
torrefied sawdust indicated that the torrefied sawdust properties
were approaching constant values.
Fig. 7(a) shows that the ash content of the torrefied sawdust
reached a maximum at ~20 min for all cases at 240
C. The ash
content was higher after torrefaction in the oxygen-containing at-
mosphere than in the inert atmosphere. It was also found that the
ash content increased as the oxygen concentration increased,
reaching a maximum at ~10 min for all cases at 270
C, except for
6 vol% O2. The ash content for 6 vol% O2 and 270
C increased
continuously beyond 20 min, consistent with the observed tem-
perature variation of OTD5 in the DSRSB reactor. (See supplemen-
tary material,Figure A1(a)). In this case, the reactor temperature
increased continuously starting from ~20 min, leading to more se-
vere biomass decomposition, oxidation, and even carbonization. In
Fig. 7(c), it is seen that the ash content kept increasing as 3 vol%
oxygen was included in the feed-gas, consistent with the reactor
temperature variation of OTD7 (See supplementary
material,Figure A1b). As mentioned previously, to prevent the
reactor temperature from running away, experiments at 270
C
with 9 vol% O2, and 300
C with 6 and 9 vol% O2 were not carried
out, so no OTD6, OTD8 and OTD9 results are available.
10
Fig. 7. Effect of oxygen concentration on evolution of ash content of torrefied product
captured by the cyclone: (a) CO2 ¼ 0-9 vol%, T ¼ 240
C and F ¼ 900 g/h; (b) CO2 ¼ 0-
6 vol%, T ¼ 270
C and F ¼ 900 g/h; (c) CO2 ¼ 0-3 vol%, T ¼ 300
C and F ¼ 900 g/h. For
detailed operating conditions see Table 1.
3.2.2. Liquid product
The condensable liquid collected during the 2 h torrefaction
experiments (TD10 to TD12) was analyzed by GC-MS to determine
its chemical composition. Fig. 8 shows GC-MS spectra of the con-
densable liquids obtained at 240, 270 and 300
C for a biomass
feedrate of 900 g/h. 33, 42 and 44 chemical compounds of quality
>60 were detected for the condensable liquid obtained at 240, 270
and 300
C, respectively. The complexity of the liquid product
composition increased with increasing torrefaction temperature
[14,47]. Detailed chemical components of the condensable liquid
are identified in the Supplementary material (Tables A1-A3). It was
found that the three liquids contained eight chemical compounds
in common, listed in Table 7. These components included acids,
furans, phenols, vanillin, and others, similar to those identified in
previous studies [16,48,49].
Acetic acid was detected as the main acidic component; it was
mainly formed from hemicellulose decomposition. As the tem-
perature increased from 240 to 300
C, the acetic acid concentra-
tion decreased, as more organic compounds were formed at higher
torrefaction temperature. Furan derivatives were formed from
decomposition of both hemicellulose and cellulose. More 2-
furanmethanol was produced at higher temperatures, while less
2-furancarboxaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural formed. 5-
Hydroxymethylfurfural is an intermediate product, which can
further be converted into furan and formaldehyde during cellulose
decomposition [50]. Phenols were mainly converted from hemi-
cellulose and lignin depolymerisation, and could be further
upgraded for the biofuels. Phenol concentrations increased with
Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306
Fig. 8. GC-MS spectra of condensable liquid obtained from (a) TD10; (b) TD11; (c)
TD12. For operating conditions see Table 1.
increasing temperature. The simple structural phenol (phenol and
its methyl-derivative) formed from hemicellulose decomposition
due to the simple unit structure of hemicellulose [16]; while the
phenol derivatives with methoxy substitutes were likely generated
from lignin decomposition. Despite partial decomposition, it was
found that the lignin contributed more phenol derivatives than
hemicellulose. The relative content of vanillin decreased when the
temperature increased from 240 to 300
C. Vanillin was obtained
through the decomposition of lignin [50], characterized by cleavage
of ether linkages such as b-O-4 and demethoxylation [51]. As many
aromatics were detected in the condensed liquids, it is better to
treat them as chemicals, rather than as fuels.
The water in the condensable liquid mainly resulted from
absorbed water, constitutive water and dehydration of hydroxyls in
the raw sawdust. The last two sources were more important in the
present study, because the biomass was pre-dried to a moisture
content of <1 wt% before being torrefied. As shown in Fig. 9, the
water content in the condensable liquid decreased from
16.4 ± 0.3 wt% to 8.7 ± 0.2 wt%, as the torrefaction temperature
increased from 240 to 300
C, consistent with previous findings
[49,52]. This occurs because more organic compounds are formed
due to greater decomposition of biomass when the torrefaction
temperature is increased; thus, the water content of the liquid
products decreased with increasing temperature.
 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306 11

Table 7
Main compounds identified in condensable liquid via GC-MS.

No. Residence Time (min) Library/ID Peak area (%)

240
C 270
C 300
C

1 10.45 Acetic acid 5.113 3.455 1.595

2 10.80 2-Furancarboxaldehyde 1.526 0.905 0.727
3 13.10 2-Furanmethanol 1.061 2.245 3.085
4 16.32 Phenol, 2-methoxy- 0.986 1.417 2.114
5 17.93 Phenol, 2-methoxy-4-methyl- 0.192 0.585 1.767
6 24.81 Phenol, 2-methoxy-4-(1-propenyl)- 0.751 2.202 2.255
7 27.28 2-Furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)- 2.972 2.925 0.621
8 28.58 Vanillin 4.107 4.241 0.912

Fig. 10. CO and CO2 concentrations in the off-gas during torrefaction at end of run
TD10 T ¼ 240
C, run TD12: T ¼ 270
C, and run TD10: T ¼ 300
C. For operating con-
ditions see Table 1.
Fig. 9. Water content of condensable liquid collected for runs TD10: T ¼ 240
C; TD12:
T ¼ 270
C; and TD10: T ¼ 300
C. For other operating conditions see Table 1.

3.3. Comparison of SRSB, DSRSB and other types of torrefaction

reactor
3.2.3. Gas product
Off-gas compositions from biomass torrefaction mainly include
The DSRSB reactor used in this work was scaled-up from a
carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and traces of hydrogen and
single-compartment SRSB reactor of half the volumetric capacity.
methane [39,49]. Because the hydrogen and methane concentra-
Fig. 11 compares the weight loss of biomass and energy yield ob-
tions were below the lower limit of detection, 0.5 vol%, of our GC,
tained from torrefaction in the absence of oxygen in the SRSB and
and could not be measured accurately, only carbon monoxide and
DSRSB reactors. At nominal temperatures of 240e300
C
carbon dioxide concentration data are presented here. Fig. 10 plots
(241e298
C measured) and biomass feedrates of 220e710 g/h
these concentrations in the torrefaction off-gas. Because part of the
(210e803 g/h measured) in the SRSB reactor, the weight loss of
tor-gas was recycled, the CO and CO2 contents were higher than the
biomass and the energy yield were 10.1e39.2% and 67.4e97.6%
theoretical values that one would have if there were no recycle. The
[29,30]. In the DSRSB reactor, the weight loss of biomass and the
CO concentration increased from 24 ± 2 ppm to 231 ± 5 ppm and
energy yield were 10.1e37.1% and 73.3e97.6% at very similar tem-
the CO2 concentration from 129 ± 4 ppm to 344 ± 17 ppm when the
peratures 240e330
C (242e303
C measured), but approximately
torrefaction temperature increased from 240 to 300
C. Carbon
twice the biomass feedrate 600e1400 g/h (610e1408 g/h
monoxide release was mainly caused by the cracking of carbonyl
measured). Furthermore, when 3e9 vol% oxygen was added to the
(CeOeC) and carboxyl (C]O) groups and secondary reactions of
spouting gas, the weight losses of biomass were 15.4e46.4 wt% and
carbon dioxide and steam with porous char [39]. The carbon di-
12.2e44.2 wt%, and the energy yields were 61.2e99.4% and
oxide release was mainly contributed by the cracking and reform-
65.7e94.5% for biomass torrefied in the SRSB reactor with a 440 g/h
ing of carboxyl (C]O) and carboxylic acid (COOH) groups in
biomass feedrate and in the DSRSB reactor with a 900 g/h federate
hemicellulose of SPF sawdust [39,53]. Previous studies [39,54]
at temperatures of 240e300
C. Comparisons of the weight loss and
found that CO and CO2 releases at temperatures < 500
C could be
energy yield from the SRSB and DSRSB reactors show that the
attributed to decomposition of hemicellulose rather than cellulose
performance of the DSRSB was very close to that of the SRSB. In
and lignin decomposition. Due to secondary reactions, CO formed
addition, the primary torrefied sawdust captured by the cyclone in
more aggressively with increasing temperature, resulting in the CO
the SRSB apparatus had 19.7e20.8 MJ/kg HHV [6,29,30], while that
release rate being higher than the CO2 release rate. Release of these
produced in the DSRSB apparatus was very similar, 19.6e20.7 MJ/kg
gases during torrefaction also led to a decrease of elemental oxygen
HHV. This indicates that it is feasible to scale up a slot-rectangular
in the torrefied sawdust, consistent with the results in Table 5.
spouted bed torrefaction reactor by using multiple parallel slots
12 Z. Wang et al. / Energy 189 (2019) 116306
Fig. 11. Comparison of weight loss and energy yield of biomass obtained from torre-
faction in the absence of oxygen in SRSB and DSRSB reactors.
and compartments.
Other types of reactors used to carry out torrefaction include
fixed beds [20,21], fluidized beds [12], screw conveyors [19], rotary
drums [22], rotary kilns [23], electronic furnaces [7,24], and mi-
crowave reactors [25], operated in batch or continuous mode. Each
reactor has its own characteristics, and different studies have uti-
lized quite different operating conditions, e.g. torrefaction tem-
perature, reaction time or material feedrate, biomass species,
particle size and oxygen concentration. It is therefore extremely
difficult to compare results and to judge whether one torrefaction
technology is better than the others. In terms of torrefied product
properties, previous studies [7,12,19e25] with different reactors
and operating conditions show similar trends as in the present
study. The weight loss of biomass varies widely from 5 to 75 wt%,
the energy yield is from 29 to 99%, and the biomass HHV increased
to a certain extent to 16e29 MJ/kg [2,8,11,13,22e24,48,55e57].
Overall, the slot-rectangular spouted bed reactor configuration
produced high-quality torrefied biomass. Comparative experi-
mental and CFD studies are needed with the same fuel and feed
rates to allow full comparison of this type of reactor with the other
types.
4. Conclusions
Experimental results showed that sawdust can be feasibly tor-
refied in a dual-compartment slot-rectangular spouted bed reactor.
 Weight loss of sawdust was 9.3e38.2 wt%, but 65.7e99.6% en-
ergy was preserved in the torrefied solid product for operating
temperatures of 240e300
C and biomass feedrates of
600e1400 g/h.
 The temperature difference between the two adjacent com-
partments was limited, but affected by the biomass feedrate.
 The pressure drop of the downstream compartment was higher
than that of the upstream compartment.
 To obtain 30 wt% weight loss, a typical desirable value for
densification, it is suggested to use a combination of 270
C
temperature and 6 vol% oxygen in the spouting gas or 300
C
temperature and 0 vol% oxygen with a sawdust federate of
900 g/h.
 Increasing temperature and utilizing oxygen-containing gas
were effective in producing more torrefied product with higher
weight loss from the cyclone.
 The condensable liquid product contained valuable aromatics,
which could be used as chemicals. The gaseous product mainly
included CO, CO2, with traces of H2 and CH4. The concentration
of CO2 was much higher concentration than that of CO.
 Comparison of the dual-compartment reactor with a single
compartment spouted bed and other types of torrefaction
reactor indicates that a DSRSB torrefaction reactor can be suc-
cessfully scaled up from a SRSB reactor, and that this type of
reactor is a feasible alternative for biomass torrefaction, pro-
ducing torrefied product comparable with that produced by
other types of reactors.
Financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and scholarships from the
China Scholarship Council (CSC) are acknowledged with gratitude.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116306.
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