Carbonization of biomass feedstock for efficient and environmental-friendly production of heat and electricity

The implementation of renewable fuels for efficient power production is still not common mainly due to high moisture content, low energy density and contamination of the fuels with some unwanted pollutants. In this paper it is demonstrated, however, that those problems may be significantly minimized by fuel pretreatment and carbonization. The final process products are hot flue gases and a solid almost completely dry residue, called 'biocarbon'. The mass yield of the biocarbon is roughly up to 50% of the initial mass of the feedstock. The biocarbon seems to be a promising solid energy carrier (SEC) that can be directly burnt in CFB or PC combustion facilities, or used in more sophisticated systems (IGCC, carbon fuel cells, etc.) for more efficient production of power.