Title:
Phytoremediation of Contaminated Lands: Thermochemical Conversion Routes for Clean Biofuels
Author(s):
Kardaras, G., Kraia, Tz., Panopoulos, K., Dossow, M., Miliotti, E., Chiaramonti, D., Abelha, P.M.R., Wray, H.E.
Document(s):
Paper
Slide presentation
Abstract:
Phytoremediation employs plants to absorb soil contaminants, which then can be harvested and converted into biofuels. Success requires selecting suitable energy crops and effective phytoremediation techniques to ensure soil decontamination and high-quality biofuel production. Additionally, advanced technologies like pyrolysis and gasification are vital for creating clean biofuels with minimal environmental impact. The GOLD project addresses this challenge by optimizing lignocellulosic energy crops for phytoremediation, developing conversion methods for clean biofuel production, and assessing the sustainability of biofuel value chains. GOLD has identified two thermochemical conversion pathways for converting contaminated biomass into low-ILUC biofuels. In the first route, the contaminated feedstock is pre-treated (via Torwash, torrefaction, inert or oxidative slow pyrolysis) and gasified at high temperatures. The produced syngas is subsequently fermented to produce clean liquid biofuels. The second route employs a pyrolysis-based solution, with the pyrolysis products subsequently upgraded to refinery-compatible intermediates and Fisher-Tropsch fuels. In both routes, soil pollutants are collected in concentrated form. This study provides the characterization of biomass materials and by-products as well as the pollutant uptake. The results demonstrate that the optimization of pre-treatment and conversion processes renders clean biofuel production from contaminated biomass feasible.
Keywords:
biofuel, gasification, pyrolysis, thermochemical conversion, contaminated biomass
Topic:
Biomass, Bio-based Products and Bioenergy Integration
Subtopic:
Biomass use in biorefineries
Event:
32nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
3BO.6.2
Pages:
357 - 361
ISBN:
978-88-89407-24-0
Paper DOI:
10.5071/32ndEUBCE2024-3BO.6.2
Price:
FREE
