A process for controlling a unit for torrefaction of biomass particles including: measurement of a mean diameter of the biomass particles; as a function of the mean diameter, calculation of a maximum torrefaction temperature for which the ratio of a characteristic time of the torrefaction to a characteristic time of the heat transfer at the level of the particles is equal to a minimum value; adjusting the torrefaction temperature to a value less than or equal to the maximum torrefaction temperature; adjusting the torrefaction time to a value such that the final yield by weight of the torrefaction is equal to a predefined target value.

The invention is directed to a process to prepare a char product and a syngas mixture comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide from a solid torrefied biomass feed comprising the following steps: (i) subjecting the solid biomass feed to a pyrolysis reaction thereby obtaining a gaseous fraction comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a mixture of gaseous organic compounds and a solid fraction comprising of char particles; (ii) separating the char particles as the char product from the gaseous fraction; (iii) subjecting the gaseous fraction obtained in step (ii) to a continuously operated partial oxidation to obtain a syngas mixture further comprising water and having an elevated temperature and (iv) contacting the syngas mixture with a carbonaceous compound to chemically quench the syngas mixture. The temperature of the syngas is reduced in step (iv) from between 1000 and 1600° C. to a temperature of between 800 and 1200° C.

The invention relates to a material and/or solid fuel which is produced from biomass. The material and/or fuel can be produced according to an apparatus and system for producing a fuel from a solid-liquid mixture of water and feed material with a carbon containing component, wherein the biomass forming the solid-liquid mixture is treated at a temperature of 160-300° C. at a pressure of at least 5 bar for a treatment duration of at least 2 hours and water formed by the chemical reaction is withdrawn from the reactor by a solid-liquid separation filtration device to increase a carbon fraction of the fuel.

The invention is directed to a process to prepare a char product by pyrolysis or mild gasification of a solid biomass feed thereby obtaining a gaseous fraction comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a mixture of gaseous organic compounds and a solid fraction comprising of char particles having a reduced atomic hydrogen over carbon ratio and a reduced oxygen over carbon ratio relative to the solid biomass feed. The solid biomass feed are pellets of a solid torrefied biomass feed. The pyrolysis or mild gasification is performed at a temperature of between 500 and 800° C. and at a solid residence time of between 10 and 60 minutes.

A reactor for drying and torrefaction, configured for torrefying biomass, including a chamber in which two separate areas are delimited, a mechanism for mixing and transferring biomass from one end of the chamber to the other, a drying device in an upstream area of the chamber configured to dry the biomass introduced into the reactor, a torrefaction device in a downstream area of the chamber configured to torrefy biomass dried in the upstream area, and a transfer and sealing system configured to allow dried biomass to be transferred from the upstream area to the downstream area at time intervals, and to make the two areas mutually sealed during each interval. Such a reactor may, for example, find application to torrefaction of lignocellulosic biomass.

A biomass upgrading process comprises a steam-cracking step for producing a granulated combustible product, and, prior to the granulation step, a step of mixing an intermediate pulverulent product resulting from the steam-cracking of the biomass and a pulverulent material having a high lignin content.

A compact, transportable batch-process supertorrefaction system includes at least one supertorrefying unit, a liquid tank containing molten salt, and a wash tank including a plurality of basins containing water having different temperatures and different salinity. The liquid tank and the wash tank sequentially supply the molten salt and the water to a receiving space of the at least one supertorrefying unit to supertorrefy the biomass into charcoal and to rinse and cool the charcoal, respectively. The plurality of basins of the wash unit sequentially supply water having different temperatures and salinity to the same receiving space to gradually rinse and cool the charcoal. The biomass is not moved in the at least one supertorrfeying unit during biomass supertorrefaction. The charcoal is not moved during charcoal cooling.

Method and device implemented in a reactor for the plasma treatment of carried fragmented material or of pulverized elements by a support gas where the main element is an intermediate temperature plasma (PIT) generator fed by a source of electric pulses, the amplitude of whose current is limited and for which the generating frequency, the duration of the pulses and the duration of the time spans between the pulses are determined in such a way as to generate a nonthermal plasma (PIT) of large extent, the plasma and the carrier gas flux (4) laiden with the fragments of material or of pulverized elements to be treated (5) moving along helical trajectories coaxial with the axis of the reactor at controlled angles a and B respectively relative to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the reactor, the angles a and B being able to vary in a given manner according to the properties of the material to be treated and the technological parameters and the dimensions of the reactor. Use of the invention both for the combustion of combustible powders in the boilers of electric power plants and for the generation of solid or gaseous combustible products, of given properties and dimensions, effected through the organization of plasmochemical reactions on fragments or pulverized elements of organic materials in the reactor.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a solid biomass fuel from agricultural waste such as grass, rice husk, yam, straw, corn cob or any combination thereof, as well as a solid biomass fuel produced by said process. Additionally, the present invention relates to a combustion process comprising combusting said solid biomass fuel so as to produce energy and a pre-treatment process for pre-treating one or more sources of biomass for use in the production of a solid biomass fuel.

A torrefaction method comprises forwarding biomass through a process chamber; heating the biomass in the process chamber to a predetermined temperature and pyrolyzing the biomass to release syngas from the biomass, wherein the syngas contains at least 20% of the power contained in the flow of the biomass; and oxidizing the syngas to heat the biomass in the process chamber.