Drying efficiency and product quality of biomass drying: a review

• Published in: Drying technology Vol. 38; no. 15; pp. 2039 - 2054
• Main Authors: Yi, Junpeng, Li, Xin, He, Jian, Duan, Xu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 02.11.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: bed dryer; Biofuels; Biomass; Biomass drying; Biomass energy production; Driers; Drying; drying efficiency; Economic impact; energy; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Fluidized beds; Impact analysis; laboratories; Moving beds; Pretreatment; product quality; Renewable energy; rotary drum dryer; rotary dryers; Solar dryers; solar drying
• ISSN: 0737-3937; 1532-2300; 1532-2300
• DOI: 10.1080/07373937.2019.1628772

Drying is an energy-intensive pretreatment process of biomass for production of biofuels by thermo-chemical conversion. The efficiency and quality during biomass drying have a significant impact on the economy and sustainability of bioenergy plants. In this review, recent development of conventional dryers, including rotary drum dryer, fluidized bed dryer, pneumatic dryer, agitated drum dryer and fixed or moving bed dryer were described. Progress in the study of advanced drying technologies, such as solar drying, microwave-drying and far-infrared drying in laboratory and pilot-plant scale were summarized as well. In order to reduce the energy consumption of drying system, multistage drying, self-heat recuperation and process integration were introduced in the bioenergy plant. Theoretical performance of these energy-saving processes is represented in this review, along with some experimental findings in the pilot plants.