CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Biomass, particularly agro-industrial wastes, is arenewable fuel and the fourth largest following coal, oil and natural gas. Ifit is compared to these fossil fuels, it has the advantages of being neutralconcerning the emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, because itparticipates in biomass growth through the photosynthesis reactions and thereducing pollutant species generation due to the low sulfur and nitrogencontents. Bio-wastes can create major environmental problems if not properlyhandled. There are growing interests in worldwide efficient biomass thermalconversion technologies developing in order to combat climate change andprovide the solutions for current energy crisis. Therefore, it is recommendedto recycle this material to yield other functional products or green energy. Themost highly developed obtaining energy or fuels from biomass technologies arethose based on thermochemical treatments, namely, pyrolysis, gasification andcombustion. During the pyrolysis, the high yield of bio-oil is obtained, butthe high oxygen content and the phenolic oligomers presence difficult thebiorefinery development [1]. Gasification is considered a suitable technologyfor the treatment of lignocelulosic wastes [2], but tar formation is a problemto be solved in order to optimize the use of syngas. However the biomasscombustion has comparative advantages into operating conditions and fuelflexibility. The moisture content of biomass wastes is an important property inthe thermal treatment (pyrolysis, gasification and combustion) since themoisture levels may affect its performance and reliability. As is well known,the first step of pyrolysis and combustion corresponds to water evaporation,which requires energy and reduces overall process efficiency.