Preprocessing and pretreatment technologies for biomass supply chain logistics challenges

Authors: Tumuluru, Jaya Shankar

Submitted to: Popular Publication
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2024
Publication Date: 6/28/2024
Citation: Tumuluru, J. 2024. Preprocessing and pretreatment technologies for biomass supply chain logistics challenges. Appita. Apr-June(2):41-45.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The biomasses such as agricultural residues, energy crops, forest residues, and other wastes usually have variable moisture, irregular shapes, and a low bulk density, resulting in loose harvest formats and a corresponding energy density lower than coal or corn grain. Also, high and variable moisture content speeds up degradation during storage and results in quality loss. Most of the harvested woody and agricultural biomass and municipal solid waste have low bulk density and create problems, such as logistics and storage, handling and feeding, and increases transportation costs. The other challenges of low bulk density are a large storage footprint, inefficiencies in processing in the biorefineries that can increase the downtime, and the overall size of the reactor and the conversion equipment. In addition to the physical properties’ challenges, other chemical composition and energy content challenges also limit the biorefineries from operating at their designed capacities. Various chemicals and thermal and mechanical pretreatment and preprocessing methods are used to improve biomass quality and make it suitable for biorefineries to operate at their designed capacities.