As an environmentally friendly material, biochar has shown great potential in many fields. However, the blockage of the combustible gas system during the production process seriously restricts the continuous operation efficiency of the equipment. The following will explore the root causes of blockage and solutions to improve the efficiency of biochar production.
Negative Impacts of Intermittent Operation of Biochar Machine
Downtime Losses
- Repair Costs: Biochar pyrolysis machine is intermittent due to failure. Therefore, it requires frequent inspection and maintenance. This increases the workload and labor costs of maintenance personnel.
- Costs During Downtime: Energy, equipment consumables and other resources may still be consumed during the machine downtime. No production output increases the cost of non-production period.
- Low Biochar Production: When the equipment fails to operate, the output of biochar will be greatly reduced. In turn, this affects the overall production plan, which affects the company’s revenue.
Certification Failure
- Carbon Removal Certification Failure: On carbon credit platforms such as Puro.earth, certification requires that biochar production equipment can operate stably and continuously. Any intermittent downtime will undermine this stability requirement. As a result, the equipment can no longer meet the certification standards.
- Carbon Credit Trading Failure: If the machine cannot meet the certification requirements, it cannot participate in carbon credit trading. If the machine is interrupted or loses certification, the company will lose the opportunity to trade carbon credits, and thus lose potential economic benefits and market competitiveness.
Impact on Equipment Life
- Thermal Expansion & Cooling Repetition: The repeated start and stop of the equipment leads to thermal expansion & cooling repetition. Such drastic temperature changes exert great pressure on the internal components. As a result, this easily leads to fatigue or wear of metal parts, reducing the service life.
- Accelerated Equipment Aging: Operation under irregular loads accelerates the aging process of the equipment. For example, intermittent operation may cause carbon deposits, dirt and other problems in the cooling system or combustion system. This makes the machine less productive during operation.
Analysis of Causes of Operation Interruption: Blockage
NO.1 Precipitation of Tar/Wood Vinegar
In the pyrolysis of biomass, in addition to producing a large amount of combustible gas, some easily condensable chemical components such as tar and wood vinegar are also generated. These substances will condense if the temperature drops below 350°C during the gas cooling process.
- Tar: Tar is a complex organic mixture containing many different organic compounds. In the high temperature environment of biochar production, tar evaporates into gas. But when the gas temperature drops, these tar molecules condense into droplets. As a result, it adheres to the surface of equipment such as gas pipes, condensers, filters, etc.
- Wood Vinegar: Wood vinegar is another light liquid byproduct of the pyrolysis process. It usually contains water, acetic acid, alcohols, ketones and other organic acids. Wood vinegar has strong hygroscopicity. When the gas temperature is lower than 350℃, it will precipitate and form droplets inside the system, causing blockage.
These condensed substances will cause poor gas flow. Worse still, their condensation will cause the entire production system to shut down or reduce efficiency. This is why we do not recommend that customers collect tar wood vinegar from biochar machine.
NO.2 Formation of Biochar Powder
During the production process of biochar, solid biochar powder is inevitably produced as a by-product. These biochar powders are mixed with tar, wood vinegar and other substances in the gas to form a viscous mixture. Especially in the cooling area, it will cause the following problems:
- Bonding: The biochar powder itself has a large surface area and is easy to adsorb liquid substances such as tar and wood vinegar. When these adhered substances are cooled, they will form hard solid substances that adhere to the inside of the pipeline, burner nozzles, cyclone dust collectors and other facilities.
- Blocking: As biochar powder and liquid substances accumulate, the internal flow channel of the pipeline will gradually narrow or even completely block. This blockage will affect the flow of gas. As a result, this leads to a significant reduction in the efficiency of gas delivery and may even cause equipment damage.
- Accumulation: As production proceeds, the accumulation problem of biochar powder will become more and more serious. In particular, thicker deposits are likely to form in some cooling areas and pipeline bends. This will cause the cleaning work of maintenance to intensify and greatly increase downtime.
Solutions to Avoid Blockage
Nitrogen Purging System: Reduce Powder Volume
Nitrogen itself is an inert gas and can effectively avoid reactions with other gases or substances in the system. By regularly injecting nitrogen at key points in the combustible gas system, biochar powder particles attached to the surface of the equipment or the inner wall of the pipeline can be effectively purged. Nitrogen carries away dust through high-speed flow, preventing it from accumulating into a thick layer, thereby reducing the risk of blockage. This solution has the following advantages:
- Improve Air Flow Efficiency: The inner walls of the pipeline and equipment are cleaner after purge, and the gas flow is unobstructed.
- Optimize Production Stability: Nitrogen purge helps reduce biochar powder wear on the surface of the equipment. This extends the service life of the equipment and reduces maintenance costs.
Insulation Facilities: Avoid Condensation
Tar and wood vinegar will condense and precipitate due to the decrease in temperature. Therefore, the solution to this problem is to add insulation measures to the key parts of the equipment. The insulation facilities can keep the gas temperature stable. Thus, it avoids low temperature due to environmental changes or system fluctuations. As a result, it reduces the risk of tar and wood vinegar precipitation.
Get 7200H/Y Continuous Operation Solution
Beston biochar pyrolysis equipment is equipped with the above-mentioned advanced self-cleaning technology, which can achieve 7,200 hours of continuous operation per year. This means that you only need to perform necessary maintenance within a production cycle to complete uninterrupted operation. If you want to obtain the most advanced biochar production solution, please contact us.
