The potential for sustainable biomass pellets in Mexico: An analysis of energy potential, logistic costs and market demand

Tauro, Raúl; García, Carlos A.; Skutsch, Margaret; Masera, Omar

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.036

Cited by 72 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Pellets are the most common solid biofuels used; they are cylindrical structures made by compression derived commonly from agricultural residues, forest products, and wood industries [5]. Pellets are used mainly for house heating and in industrial sector.…”

Section: Solid Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pellets are used mainly for house heating and in industrial sector. Even though the agro-industrial residues have less energy content than fossil fuels, their use presents great advantages such as the reduction of logistic costs, easy storage, and provision of a great opportunity for the revalorization of these unused residues [5]. For the pellet elaboration, the biomass is treated to be compacted and densified; this includes the drying, and after, the biomass is milled to obtain particles with similar size [6].…”

Section: Solid Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Agro-Industrial Waste Revalorization: The Growing Biorefinery

Beltrán-Ramírez¹,

Orona‐Tamayo²,

Cornejo-Corona³

et al. 2019

Biomass for Bioenergy - Recent Trends and Future Challenges

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Section: Solid Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Solid Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agro-Industrial Waste Revalorization: The Growing Biorefinery

Beltrán-Ramírez¹,

Orona‐Tamayo²,

Cornejo-Corona³

et al. 2019

Biomass for Bioenergy - Recent Trends and Future Challenges

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“…The volatile matters range (72 to 79%) is in agreement with the results of Arranz et al (2015), Koppejan and Van Loo (2012), Tenorio et al (2014), and are lower than 82.8% reported by Chen et al 2015for commercial pellets. The amount of volatile matters influences the behavior during the combustion of solid fuels (Tauro et al, 2018) such that when volatile matters are high, the biomass is considered a suitable fuel for thermal conversion (Olsson & Kjällstrand, 2004;Holt et al, 2006). Kataki and Konwer (2002) additionally indicated that high levels of volatile matters produce a fast burning, a disadvantage to fuels.…”

Section: Proximate Analysis and Energy Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Physical, mechanical and energy characterization of wood pellets obtained from three common tropical species (v0.1)"

2018

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Background. The need for energy sources with low greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable production encourage the search for alternative biomass sources. However, the use of biomass fuels faces the problem of storage, transport and lower energy densities. Low-density values can negatively affect energy density, leading to an increase in transportation and storage costs. Use of pellets as alternative biomass source is a way to reduce the volume of biomass by densification, which improves their energy quality. They are produced by diverse biomass resources and mainly from wood materials. In all cases, it is important to evaluate the fuel characteristics, to determine their suitability on the heating system and handling properties. Methods. The present study determines and compares data from proximate analysis, calorific values, physical and mechanical properties of wood pellets produced from the common tropical species Acacia wrightii, Ebenopsis ebano and Havardia pallens. Data were obtained from pellets produced from each species chips collected from an experimental plantation and analyzed through ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test at 0.05 significance level. Results. The results of diameter, length and length/diameter ratio didn't show statistical differences (p > 0.05) among species. Acacia wrightii showed the highest density (1.2 g/cm 3). Values on weight retained and compression test showed statistical differences (p = 0.05) among species. Havardia pallens was more resistant to compression strength than A. wrightii and Ebenopsis ebano. Statistical differences (p < 0.01) were also observed for the volatile matter and calorific value. E. ebano has the lowest volatile matter (72%), highest calorific value (19.6 MJ/kg) as well as the fixed carbon (21%). Discussion. The pellets of the species studied have a high energy density, which makes them suitable for both commercial and industrial heating applications. A pellet with low compression resistance tends to disintegrate easily, due to moisture adsorption. The percentages obtained for the resistance index were higher than 97.5%, showing that the pellets studied are high-quality biofuels. Proximate analysis values also indicate good combustion parameters. Pellets of Acacia wrightii and Ebenopsis ebano are the more favorable raw material sources for energy purposes because of their high density, calorific value, low ash content and they also met majority of the international quality parameters.

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“…The use of wood for energy purposes in Mexico is still very limited compared to the potential of residues from forest logging and forest industries [47][48][49][50]. In particular, the Quercus genus is considered the second most important timber forest resource after Pinus genus [51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bioenergetic Potential of Four Oak Species from Northeastern Mexico

Núñez-Retana

Wehenkel

Vega-Nieva

et al. 2019

Forests

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Lack of knowledge regarding the fuel quality of diverse tree species prevents their use. Furthermore, the potential use of wood with the bark of different tree species for pellet production is still relatively unexplored in the scientific literature. In Mexico, the sawdust of Quercus genus (oak) is underutilized, despite it being an important forest resource, due to some anatomical and technological characteristics. The sawdust of Quercus with bark is also considered to have a low economic value. The objective of this study was to analyze the energy characteristics of barked and debarked Quercus sideroxyla, Q. rugosa, Q. laeta, and Q. conzattii in order to evaluate their potential for pellet production. Granulometric distribution, bulk density, proximal analysis, and calorific value tests were carried out. The sawdust of the four tree species studied was in accordance with the limits established by the standard EN 14961-2. Sawdust with a particle size of 0.425 mm had the highest percentage of retained mass (30.33%) (p < 0.05) in the granulometry test. There were no statistical differences in granulometry (p > 0.05) between barked and debarked sawdust for all Quercus species. Barked sawdust presented higher bulk density (p < 0.05) than debarked sawdust (246 and 224 kg/m3, respectively). The moisture content did not show statistical differences (p > 0.05) between barked and debarked sawdust. The volatile material was higher (p < 0.05) in debarked sawdust (88.7%) than in barked sawdust (85.0%). The ash content was below 0.5%. The fixed carbon was higher (p < 0.05) in barked sawdust (14.6%). The calorific value was higher (p < 0.05) in barked sawdust and for the Q. rugosa species (19.5 MJ/kg). The results suggest that the oak species analyzed, both barked and debarked, showed good potential for pellet production. Future studies should quantify fuel quality for a variety of diameter distributions, and analyze pellet mechanical properties and ash slagging risk.

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The potential for sustainable biomass pellets in Mexico: An analysis of energy potential, logistic costs and market demand

Cited by 72 publications

References 51 publications

Agro-Industrial Waste Revalorization: The Growing Biorefinery

Agro-Industrial Waste Revalorization: The Growing Biorefinery

Peer Review #1 of "Physical, mechanical and energy characterization of wood pellets obtained from three common tropical species (v0.1)"

The Bioenergetic Potential of Four Oak Species from Northeastern Mexico

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