Fossil fuel reserves are quickly decreasing, so it is important to find alternative methods of extracting fuel from renewable sources. As one of solutions appears biomass, which does not possess desirable fuel characteristics in its pure form. This is where torrefaction comes in, so I will engage with it in my thesis. The purpose of my thesis is to examine biomass torrefaction. I will conduct experiments in batch reactors with and without the addition of H-beta zeolite, applying different holding times and reaction temperatures. I will check the effect of torrefaction on mass yield and thermal stability using TGA. I will also use GC-MS to gain results about product distribution in liquid product. After obtaining results, I concluded that increasing reaction temperature and holding time results in higher weight loss and thermal stability of solid product. High reaction temperatures and retention times with the addition of H-beta zeolite are optimal to produce levulinic acid while low reaction temperatures without the addition of a catalyst are optimal for ethanol.
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