Torrefaction
pretreatment has recently gained attention for the
potential improvement in biomass properties. Otherwise, visible image-processing
technology for analyzing properties of torrefied biomass was evaluated
for possible use in the future online process control. In this study,
torrefied rice husk from different torrefaction temperatures (180–330
°C) was obtained. After torrefaction, the biochar was characterized
to determine the effects of torrefaction temperature on the properties,
including the proximate analysis, solid yield (SY), and higher heating
values. In addition, the color values, including red-green-blue (RGB)
values, and grayscale (GS) of torrefied rice husk, were measured.
The results show that the fixed carbon and ash increased from 17.39
to 35.13 and 7.06 to 38.41%, respectively, while volatile matters
decreased from 71.47% to a minimum of 22.89% with the increase of
torrefaction temperature from 105 to 330 °C. The SY remained
higher than 46% even at the most severe torrefaction condition because
of the high ash content and high remaining lignin. Moreover, the higher
heating values of torrefied rice husk were increased from 14.80 to
17.82 MJ/kg when increased the pretreatment temperature. RGB values
were decreased with the increase of torrefaction temperature. The
GS analysis results show that the color of torrefied rice husk changed
from yellow to brown at light torrefaction and black at severe torrefaction.
GS of torrefied rice husk shows a good correlation (R = 0.9998) with torrefaction temperature. Prediction equations with
higher fitting degree between GS and proximate analysis (R2 > 0.9900), high heat values (R2 = 0.9999), and SY (R2 = 0.9979),
which are developed to reflect the changing characteristics of torrefied
rice husk. The results show that the prediction method based on GS
is a promising technology to measure the properties of torrefied rice
husk.
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