1. S M Hassan Shahrukh, Dr. Amit Kumar
2014 ASABE and CSBE Annual International
Meeting, 13-16 July ,2014
Development of Process Model for
Assessment of Steam Treatment of
Biomass for Pellet Production
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
2. Presentation Outline
Background and Objective
Pellet Production Supply Chain
Model Development and Validation
Mass and heat balance of Steam
Pretreatment
Techno-Economic Result
Summary of Result
Future Work
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
8. Model Input
1. Boiler unit: Supply of steam at
different time and temperature
2. Steam Pretreatment
Unit: Biomass
is treated with high
pressure steam in batch
reactor ( Yield reactor
considered)
logR = log න exp(
T − 100
14.75
)dt
Governing
Equation:
Source: Lam et al.
2013
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
9. Simplified Model
Separated unit for steam
pretreatment unit and
pelletizer unit since it is not
a continuous process in the
experimental set up
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
10. Model Input
3. Pellet mill: produces
pellet of 20-30 mm long
, 6 mm in diameter,
has a heating element
operating at 70-100 C.
2. Grinder: Kicks
Energy constant
100KJ/kg, solid
recovery 95%
1. Dryer : Operating
temperature at 80
C. rotary drum
dryer flow rate of
10.4 t/h
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
11. Model Validation
Operation Experimental Energy Required MJ/Kg ASPEN model Energy Required MJ/Kg
Steam treated Untreated Steam treated Untreated
Steam Pretreatment 4.30 0.0 4.35 0.0
Drying 4.52 3.01 4.56 2.98
Size reduction 0.82 1.31 0.88 1.28
Pelletization 0.27 0.24 0.25 0.23
Total Energy Input 9.91 4.56 10.04 4.49
Total Energy Output 21.00 18.00 21.80 18.40
Energy Ratio 2.12 3.95 2.17 4.10
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
13. Techno-Economic Snapshot
Steam Treated Pellet Untreated Pellet
Capacity (ton) 45000 45000
Total Energy (GJ) 990000 810000
Price of Pellet ($/ton) 231 207
Price of Pellet ($/GJ) 24.6 24.2
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
14. Cost Curve: Capital cost per ton
Steam Pretreatment increase capital
cost due to addition of Steam Boiler
and Steam Pretreatment Unit
Steam Pretreated
Pellet
Regular pellet
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
15. Cost Curve: $/ton
No Point of Intersection in
$/ton Curve
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
16. Cost Curve: $/GJ
Point of Intersection occurs
at 270000 tons
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
19. Reference
• Kumar A. (2009) “A conceptual comparison of bioenergy options
for using mountain pine beetle infested wood in western
Canada.” Bioresource Technology,100 (1): 387-399.
• Lam, P. S.,Tooyserkani, Z., Naimi, L. J. and Sokhansanj, S. (2013)
“Pretreatment and pelletization of woody biomass”, In
Pretreatment Techniques for Biofuels and Biorefineries, Green
Energy and Technology. Z. Fang, Editor. Springer-Verlag: Berlin
Heidelberg, 93-116.
• Sarkar S. and Kumar A. (2009) “Techno-economic assessment of
biohydrogen production from forest biomass in Western
Canada.” Transactions of the ASABE, 52 (2): 1-12.
• Sultana. A., Kumar, A. and Harfield, D. (2010) “Development of
agri-pellet production cost and optimum size”, Bioresource
Technology 101: 5609-5621. Online at Science Direct.
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
20. Acknowledgement
Bio Fuel Net
University of Alberta
Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj, Dr. Linoj Kumar and Bahman Ghiasi,
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of British
Columbia
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
21. Thank You/Questions
For further information:
Amit Kumar
NSERC/Cenovus/Alberta Innovates Industrial
Research Chair in Energy and Environmental Systems
Engineering &
Cenvous Energy Endowed Chair in Environmental
Engineering
E-mail: Amit.Kumar@ualberta.ca
Website: www.energysystems.ualberta.ca
Presentation at ASABE, 13-16 July,2014
