Open Collections

Moisture sorption and gas emissions during the storage of high moisture woody biomass

University of British Columbia

Moisture sorption and gas emissions are major processes associated with biomass storage. Depending on the storage conditions, these processes alter the structure and composition of biomass. The objectives of this research are (1) to develop moisture relations for woody biomass exposed to drying and wetting environments; (2) to quantify gas emissions from biomass stored under aerobic and anaerobic conditions; and (3) to develop dry matter loss equations for the stored biomass. Moisture adsorption and desorption (drying) experiments were carried out on Aspen branches in a controlled temperature and humidity chamber. Frequent wetting-drying cycles were simulated by spraying water on the biomass. A lump model for simulating moisture adsorption-desorption was developed and calibrated with experimental results. The model was applied to the Aspen bales stored for one year in the field under natural conditions. The predicted moisture contents using the lump moisture transfer model were found to be in reasonably good agreement with the moisture contents measured in the stored bales. In another set of experiments, gas emissions from stored Western Red Cedar (WRC) and Douglas fir (DF) were analyzed. The emissions of CO₂, CO, H₂ and CH₄, and the depletion of O₂ were measured. The highest total CO₂ emissions from WRC stored in the non-aerobic and aerobic reactors were 2.8 g/kg DM and 6.6 g/kg DM, respectively. Higher gas emissions were measured from stored DF materials than from WRC. Common volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured using GC-MS were methanol, aldehydes, terpene, acid, acetone, hexane, ketone, benzene, ethers and esters from WRC and DF. The total VOC concentrations were found to have a positive correlation with temperature. The results of microbial analysis were compatible with gas emission results. Positive correlations between percent dry matter losses and gas emissions were found for both aerobic and non-aerobic storage conditions. The summation of gas emissions from aerobic reactors is greater than accumulated gas emissions from non-aerobic reactors over the same storage period. It was found that DF is more readily degradable than WRC. Greens (leaves and twigs) degrade faster than wood chips.

Text

2013-04-17

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44228

Chemical and Biological Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/