Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Investigating solids present in the aqueous stream during STEX condensate upgrading—a case study
University of Bergen, Norway; Arbaflame AS, Norway.
University of Bergen, Norway.
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Bioeconomy and Health, Material and Surface Design.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0140-1693
Arbaflame AS, Norway.
Show others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, ISSN 2190-6815, E-ISSN 2190-6823Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Steam explosion (STEX) of woody biomass is an efficient pretreatment method in the production of water-resistant wood pellets. The STEX process also generates an aqueous condensate stream containing dissolved organic compounds, with furfural as the most abundant and valuable component. An industrial-scale recovery process for furfural and other organic by-products is therefore in the process of being developed and built. One challenge in the process has turned out to be the formation of solid particulate matter that can clog filters in the process unit. We have analyzed both the solid deposits and the fluids present at different points in the process unit to try to identify the origin of the particles using spectroscopic and chromatographic analysis, elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The aqueous fluids deriving from condensed steam contain furfural and other small organic molecules, with a separate low-density organic layer occurring at some points. This layer largely consists of wood extractives, typically terpenoids. In addition, a heavy organic phase comprising mostly furfural was found at one sampling point. The particles comprise a black, largely insoluble material with a H/C ratio of 0.88 and an O/C ratio of 0.26 and a very low ash content. IR spectra show a low content of C–H functional groups, and chromatographic analysis supports an interpretation that the particles are dominantly furfural-sourced humin-like polymers with adsorbed or co-polymerized terpenoids. Particle formation has been reproduced in a laboratory setting with conditions similar to those in the full-scale process. © 2022, The Author(s).

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH , 2022.
Keywords [en]
Biorefinery, Condensate, Furfural, Steam explosion, Terpenoids, Aldehydes, Chromatographic analysis, Lipids, Scanning electron microscopy, Spectroscopic analysis, Biorefineries, Case-studies, Pretreatment methods, Process unit, Water resistant, Wood pellet, Woody biomass
National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-61553DOI: 10.1007/s13399-022-03593-9Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85143212740OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-61553DiVA, id: diva2:1720282
Note

Funding details: 509-42/16; Funding details: Universitetet i Bergen, UiB; Funding details: Norges Forskningsråd, 226244/F50, 309970, 321268; Funding details: Bergens Forskningsstiftelse, BFS-NMR-1; Funding text 1: Open access funding provided by University of Bergen (incl Haukeland University Hospital) This work received funding from Arbaflame AS through the Research Council of Norway under grant agreement No 309970 and Ph.D. project No 321268.; Funding text 2: The authors would like to acknowledge Siv Dundas for assisting with the ICP-MS analysis, Irene Heggestad at the ELMilab for assistance with the SEM imaging, Inger J. Fjellanger for assistance with the elemental analysis, and Kenneth Aasarød from RISE PFI for assistance with the TGA-FTIR analysis. We would also like to thank Stine Johansen at the ArbaOne plant for assistance with on-site work and Joakim L. Molnes for his graphical contribution and help with text revision. This work was partly supported by the Bergen Research Foundation (BFS-NMR-1), Sparebankstiftinga Sogn og Fjordane (509-42/16), and the Research Council of Norway through the Norwegian NMR Platform, NNP (226244/F50).

Available from: 2022-12-19 Created: 2022-12-19 Last updated: 2024-05-27Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Opedal, Mihaela Tanase

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Opedal, Mihaela Tanase
By organisation
Material and Surface Design
In the same journal
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Engineering and Technology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 38 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf