A plant to recover 100% of forest biomass
Maria Isabel Pérez Rodriguez, a student in chemical engineering from the University of Salamanca, supported by researcher Maria del Carmen Marquez, is currently carrying out a project to design a factory for the use and full recovery of biomass waste from forest origin. The initiative takes place within the framework of the Market Oriented Prototypes Program of the University of Salamanca, within the knowledge transfer project (T-CUE) of the Council of Castilla y Leon.
Biomass waste from brushcutting would constitute the raw material for this plant. The researchers thus have the will to transform the organic fraction of this waste into energy by a process of pyrolysis, gasification and combustion, while the inorganic part - the ashes which are generated in the combustion process - would be valued for the manufacture of fertilizers or construction concrete.
In the field of agriculture, the reuse of these ashes would close a natural loop. To concrete, as an additive in cement, these ashes would bring a series of advantages on mechanical properties and better longevity. In this way, all forest residues would be eliminated without going through the landfill stage, in line with the European objectives for the reduction of biodegradable residues.
To date, it has only been possible in a few rare cases to generate energy from biomass waste, and the transformation of the inorganic part is still at the experimental stage. In laboratories, researchers have already studied the properties of ash, but the challenge now is to make it marketable worldwide.
http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/ ... /70581.htm
