Woody Biomass:

Properties and Combustion

FOR 310H S
Bioenergy from Sustainable Forest
Management;Tutorial # 1
28 January 2016; Nicolas Tanguy

OUTLINE
1)

Formation of biofuel (Energy storage)

2)

Deformation of biofuel (Energy release)

3)

Heating values (HHV, LHV, LHV with moisture)

4) Examples relevant to PS # 1 (Mass conversion and

energy unit conversion)

FORMATION OF BIOFUEL (1)

Transformation of Solar Energy to Chemical Energy

Photosynthesis
Energy Efficiency
E=(hc)/
Compare to 1st generation
solar panels

FORMATION OF BIOFUEL (2)

Composition of woody biomass; Primarily:
(C, H, O)

Cellulose 40-50% (C6H10O5)x

Hemicellulose 20-40% (Xylan,
mannose, galactose, arabinose)
wood
2
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FORMATION OF BIOFUEL (3)

Lignin 20-35% (C31H34O11)n

As well as lipids, protein, minerals

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ENERGY RELEASE
Endothermic (absorbs energy)
ENERGY +

Exothermic (releases energy)

+ ENERGY
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DEFORMATION OF BIOFUEL
(BIOMASS BREAKDOWN)
Metabolism (Catabolism)
- Food chain (eg. MPB, SBW, decomposition (slow))

Combustion
- Natural (e.g. Forest fire (rapid))

- Anthropogenic (e.g. Controlled conditions in boiler)

IN ALL CASES, BONDS ARE BROKEN and FORMED 5

CALCULATING ENERGY CHANGE ON

COMBUSTION (1)
=

()

CALCULATING ENERGY CHANGE ON

COMBUSTION (2)
=

()

4 + 22 2 + 22

Energy to break down

bonds is 2,628 kJ/mol

Energy to form new

bonds is 3,438 kJ/mol

= 2628 3438 = 810 /

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COMBUSTION EQUATIONS
Complete combustion (ideal)
Incomplete combustion (real)
OR:

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HEATING VALUES (1)

Heating value
The amount of energy that
can be released through
combustion

Wood ~ 20 MJ/kg
Natural gas ~ 50
MJ/kg
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HEATING VALUES (2) CALORIMETRIC

VS EFFECTIVE
Calorimetric (higher heating
value)
HHV
-Total amount of heat released from
fuel

-Independent of moisture content

Some of the released energy is
consumed during vaporization of H2O

Effective (lower heating value)

LHV
-

Total amount of heat released minus

the energy used for vaporization

Affected by presence of moisture

and H in the fuel

Sources of H2O in wood:

1. Moisture present in the biomass

2. H2O generated when H and O
combine

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HEATING VALUES (3)

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HOW TO MEASURE THE HHV ?

Adiabatic Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter (AOB)

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HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (1)

Source: Richardson et al. 2002

As moisture content increases, the HHV of wood

decreases
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HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (2)

LHV = HHV 2.45 x 0.09 x H
Where:
LHV = effective heating value of dry biomass (MJ/kg dry mass)
HHV = calorimetric heating value of dry biomass (MJ/kg dry mass)
2.45 = amount of heat energy required to vaporize H2O at 20C (MJ/kg)
0.09 = factor (1 part H + 8 parts O combine to 9 parts H2O)
H = hydrogen content of dry biomass (%)
Example: If hydrogen content of dry biomass is 6 %
LHV is 1.32 MJ/kg less than the HHV

LHV consider the formation of vapor due to recombination of H and O in wood during
combustion
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HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (3)

1.32 MJ/kg

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Source: Richardson et al. 2002

HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (4)

Wem = LHV 2.45 x (MC / (100 MC))
Where:
Wem = effective heating value of biomass with moisture (MJ/kg dry mass)
LHV = effective heating value of dry biomass (MJ/kg dry mass)
MC = moisture content of biomass on a fresh mass basis (%)
2.45 = amount of heat energy required to vaporize H2O at 20C (MJ/kg)
Example:

At 60 % MC: Wem = Wea 3.68

In freshly-felled wood w/a typical MC of 45-58 %, the effective heating value per kg of
dry mass is 1520 % lower than the calorimetric value

Wem consider both: the formation of vapor due to recombination of H and O in dry wood
And the energy lost in vaporizing the moisture in wood
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HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (5)

3.68 MJ/kg
Wem = Wea 2.45 x (MC / (100 MC))

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Source: Richardson et al. 2002

HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (6)

HHV dry mass basis =
HHV fresh mass basis = HHV dry mass basis *(1-MCwet)
LHV dry mass basis = HHV dry mass basis -2.45 x 0.09 x H
LHV fresh mass basis = LHV dry mass basis *(1-MCwet)
Wem dry mass basis = LHV 2.45 x (MCwet / (100 MCwet))
Wem fresh mass basis = LHV fresh mass basis - 2.45 x MCwet
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Source: Richardson et al. 2002

VARIATIONS IN BIOMASS
Not all biomass is the same

Elements distributed differently

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HEATING VALUE OF WOOD (7)

Differences in chemical composition between tree species
= differences in heating values
Lignin, resin and waxes > cellulose and hemicellulose
Softwoods > hardwoods
Branches, bark, foliage > stemwood

Photos by: Daniel Tigner, Canadian Forest Tree Essences

EMISSIONS
Low specific emission of CO2
Ratio of CO2 released to amount of
energy

Depends on C:H
High ratio = high specific emissions

Natural gas (CH4 gives 0.25)

best of major fuels
Wood (8.33) is higher but belongs to a
closed system

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Calculating mass of biomass using moisture content

Method 1:

mbs1 x (1 - MCwet1) = mbs2 x (1 - MCwet2)

Where:
mbs1 = mass of biomass sample 1 (in tonnes)
MCwet1 = moisture content of biomass sample 1 on a wet basis
mbs2 = mass of biomass sample 2 (in tonnes)
MCwet2 = moisture content of biomass sample 2 on a wet basis
Note: moisture content is in decimal form (i.e. 30% is 0.3)
*Use this equation when given any type of question dealing with converting
biomass from one type to another when given the moisture contents on a
wet basis (i.e. wood chips to pellets)
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Example
Convert 30 tonnes of wood chips to a mass equivalent in pellets. Moisture
content of wood chips is 45 % and of pellets it is 10 % (wet basis)
Solution:
mbs1 x (1-MCwet1) = mbs2 x (1-MCwet2)
30 x (1 - 0.45) = mbs2 x (1 0.10)
mbs2 = [30 x (1-0.45)] / (1 0.10)
mbs2 = 18.3 tonnes
Answer: Mass of the pellets is 18.3 tonnes
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Calculating mass of biomass using moisture content

Method 2:
Alternatively, one can calculate mass of samples using the following 2
equations:
A: MCwet = (massH2O / masswet)
-where masswet is the mass of biomass as received
-where massH2O is the mass of the water in the biomass
B: mod = mbs x (1 MCwet)
-where mod is the mass of the biomass in oven dry tonnes

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Example
Convert 30 tonnes of wood chips to a mass equivalent in pellets. Moisture
content of wood chips is 45 % and of pellets it is 10 % (wet basis).
Solution:
a)

Find the mass of water (massH2O) using equation A: MCwet = (massH2O / masswet)

b) Find the oven dry mass of the sample

c)

Using equation B we can determine the mass of sample 2 (pellets)

B: mod = mbs x (1 MCwet)

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A) MCwet = (massH2O / masswet)

-

masswet = 30 t (mass of wood chips as received)

MCwet = 45 % (moisture content of wood chips)

a) Therefore:

massH2O = (MCwet x masswet)

massH2O = (0.45 x 30)

massH2O = 13.5 t
13.5 t of water in the 30 t of biomass

b) Thus the oven dry mass:

30 t 13.5 t = 16.5 t

16.5 t of oven dry biomass at moisture content 0%

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c) Now we need to convert the oven dry tonnes of biomass to mass of pellets
using the 10 % moisture content of pellets (MCwet) and equation B
B)

mod = mbs x (1 MCwet)

16.5 t = mbs x (1 0.1)

mbs = 16.5 t / (1 0.1)

mbs = 18.3 t
Answer: Mass of the pellets is 18.3 tonnes

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Unit Conversions
Unit of energy :
Joule (kJ, MJ, GJ), Calories (cal), British thermal unit (Btu),
barrel oil equivalent (Boe)etc.
Example: Convert 15 GJ to boe

1 Boe = 6.1 GJ
15GJ/6.1 = 2.46 Boe
https://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html
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PROBLEM SET #1

Due date: 4 February 2016 (start of class)

Next Thursday

Nicolas Tanguys office hours:

Wednesday 3-5 pm (room 2016 ESC)
or by appointment

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