G del H Zamora Rueda, C Gutierrez, G Armella, W Morales, MA Golato, EA Feijóo and M Ruiz
Laboratory of Tests and Industrial Measurements (LEMI), Engineering and Agroindustrial Projects Department, Obispo Colombres Agroindustrial Experimental Station (EEAOC), Av. William Cross 3150 – Las Talitas – Tucumán – Argentina; gzamora@eeaoc.org.ar; mgolato@eeaoc.org.ar Classification of biomass is an important means to evaluate the properties of a fuel, as well as to infer its energy conversion potential. The aim of this study was to determine the classification of biomass with the highest energy potential in Tucumán, using the Van Krevelen diagram (H/C vs O/C) and the ternary diagram (C-H-O) methodology. We compared it with other types of solid biofuels and chose the appropriate thermochemical conversion process. To achieve this, 15 samples of different biomass were analyzed: sugarcane bagasse; agricultural waste from the sugarcane harvest (RAC) and its washed fibers; fibrous sorghum, native wood chips and lemon tree chips. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen contents of these samples were determined. The classification obtained using the Van Krevelen diagram aligns with what has previously been observed for lignocellulosic biomass. Values for the studied biomass were between 0.74 and 0.92 for O/C and between 1.63 and 1.99 for H/C. The highest values H/C were observed in RAC and its washed fibers, followed by bagasse, which would indicate that these types of biomass offer better energy performance. From an environmental perspective, the use of RAC and bagasse as fuel would result in lower CO2 emissions into the environment since they have lower C contents. Regarding the ternary diagram, the studied biomass showed similar values for C, H and O, placing them near the carbon vertex. Therefore, slow pyrolysis and gasification could be selected as conversion technologies due to the high carbon content. Further study of the kinetics of the pyrolysis and gasification processes for these types of biomass is recommended