Author
Wei Hsin Chen
Other affiliations: National Chiao Tung University, National University of Tainan, Tunghai University ...read more
Bio: Wei Hsin Chen is an academic researcher from National Chin-Yi University of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Torrefaction & Biomass. The author has an hindex of 72, co-authored 450 publications receiving 15908 citations. Previous affiliations of Wei Hsin Chen include National Chiao Tung University & National University of Tainan.
Topics: Torrefaction, Biomass, Biofuel, Hydrogen production, Biochar
Papers published on a yearly basis
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review of research progress in this area, drawing on major contributions from two major research groups of the authors on torrefaction and densification at Canada and Taiwan as well as literatures.
Abstract: Torrefaction is a mild pyrolysis, which has been explored for the pretreatment of biomass to increase the heating value and hydrophobicity. Due to its potential applications for making torrefied pellets, which can be used as a high quality feedstock in gasification for high quality syngas production and as a substitute for coal in thermal power plants and metallurgical processes, torrefaction and densification have attracted great interest in recent years from both academia and bioenergy industry. This paper provides a comprehensive review of research progresses in this area, drawing on major contributions from two major research groups of the authors on torrefaction and densification at Canada and Taiwan as well as literatures. It is revealed that torrefaction of various biomass species and their major components, lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses have been extensively studied in thermogravimetric apparatus (TGA) under both inert (N 2 ) and oxidative (O 2 , H 2 O) environments to elucidate the weight loss as a function of temperature, particle size and time. It was found that the higher heating value and saturated water uptake of torrefied biomass were a strong function of weight loss, which represents the degree of torrefaction. When torrefied sawdust is compressed into torrefied pellets, more mechanical energy is consumed and higher die temperature is required to make torrefied pellets of similar density and hardness as regular pellets. Simple economics analyses based on laboratory scale experimental data showed that because of the potential savings from pellets transport, handling and storage logistics, the overall cost for torrefied pellets can be lower than regular pellets in European market for both European and Canadian pellets. The gasification could be improved in terms of both energy efficiency and syngas quality because of the removal of oxygenated volatile compounds from torrefied biomass.
864 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of torrefaction on hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin contained in the biomass was investigated using the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).
509 citations
TL;DR: A state-of-the-art review of the thermochemical conversion technologies of microalgal biomass into fuels is provided and detailed conversion processes and their outcome are addressed.
444 citations
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of different biorefinery models used for various biomass feedstocks such as lignocelluloses, algae, and numerous waste-types reveals that the social-economic aspect of the industrial sector has a major influence on the full adoption ofBiorefineries in circular bioeconomy.
440 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three torrefaction temperatures of 230, 260 and 290 C, corresponding to light, mild and severe torrefactions, were taken into account and the experiments suggested the weight losses of the tested samples could be classified into three groups; they consisted of a weakly active reaction, a moderately active reaction and a strongly active reaction.
434 citations
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TL;DR: A broad review of the state-of-the-art biomass pyrolysis research can be found in this article, where three major components (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) are discussed in detail.
1,613 citations
TL;DR: An overview of the research on biomass upgrading by torrefaction for the production of biofuels is presented in this article, where the removal of oxygen from biomass aims to produce a fuel with increased energy density by decomposing the reactive hemicellulose fraction.
Abstract: An overview of the research on biomass upgrading by torrefaction for the production of biofuels is presented. Torrefaction is a thermal conversion method of biomass in the low temperature range of 200–300 °C. Biomass is pre-treated to produce a high quality solid biofuel that can be used for combustion and gasification. In this review the characteristics of torrefaction are described and a short history of torrefaction is given. Torrefaction is based on the removal of oxygen from biomass which aims to produce a fuel with increased energy density by decomposing the reactive hemicellulose fraction. Different reaction conditions (temperature, inert gas, reaction time) and biomass resources lead to various solid, liquid and gaseous products. A short overview of the different mass and energy balances is presented. Finally, the technology options and the most promising torrefaction applications and their economic potential are described.
1,125 citations
TL;DR: This paper comprehensively reviews the lignocellulosic wastes to bioethanol process with a focus on pretreatment methods, their mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages as well as the combinations of different pretreatment technologies.
Abstract: Pretreatment technologies are aimed to increase enzyme accessibility to biomass and yields of fermentable sugars. In general, pretreatment methods fall into four different categories including physical, chemical, physico-chemical, and biological. This paper comprehensively reviews the lignocellulosic wastes to bioethanol process with a focus on pretreatment methods, their mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages as well as the combinations of different pretreatment technologies. Moreover, the new advances in plant “omics” and genetic engineering approaches to increase cellulose composition, reduce cellulose crystallinity, produce hydrolases and protein modules disrupting plant cell wall substrates, and modify lignin structure in plants have also been expansively presented.
1,059 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the preparation, characterization, modification, and especially environmental application of biochar, based on more than 200 papers published in recent 10 year, to provide an overview of Biochar with a particular on its environmental application.
1,017 citations