Effects of Torrefaction Pretreatment on the Structural Features and Combustion Characteristics of Biomass-Based Fuel

Wheat straw, a typical agricultural solid waste, was employed to clarify the effects of torrefaction on the structural features and combustion reactivity of biomass. Two typical torrefaction temperatures (543 K and 573 K), four atmospheres (argon, 6 vol.% O₂, dry flue gas and raw flue gas) were selected. The elemental distribution, compositional variation, surface physicochemical structure and combustion reactivity of each sample were identified using elemental analysis, XPS, N₂ adsorption, TGA and FOW methods. Oxidative torrefaction tended to optimize the fuel quality of biomass effectively, and the enhancement of torrefaction severity improved the fuel quality of wheat straw. The O₂, CO₂ and H₂O in flue gas could synergistically enhance the desorption of hydrophilic structures during oxidative torrefaction process, especially at high temperatures. Meanwhile, the variations in microstructure of wheat straw promoted the conversion of N-A into edge nitrogen structures (N-5 and N-6), especially N-5, which is a precursor of HCN. Additionally, mild surface oxidation tended to promote the generation of some new oxygen-containing functionalities with high reactivity on the surface of wheat straw particles after undergoing oxidative torrefaction pretreatment. Due to the removal of hemicellulose and cellulose from wheat straw particles and the generation of new functional groups on the particle surfaces, the ignition temperature of each torrefied sample expressed an increasing tendency, while the Ea clearly decreased. According to the results obtained from this research, it could be concluded that torrefaction conducted in a raw flue gas atmosphere at 573 K would improve the fuel quality and reactivity of wheat straw most significantly.