Predicting the higher heating value of microalgae biomass based on proximate and ultimate analysis

Exploring Sustainable Sources for Biodiesel Production: Utilizing Fish, Chicken Waste and Aquatic Weeds to Reduce Emissions"

“…During thermochemical process, the reactivity of biomass is dependent on quantity of volatile matter present. Therefore, if volatile content will high the reactivity will also be high (Reza et al 2022;Magalhães et al 2022). Volatile percentages of all feedstocks were higher and greater value reported in sh waste in present study.…”

Applying Macroalgal Biomass as an Energy Source: Utility of the Baltic Sea Beach Wrack for Thermochemical Conversion

“…The values of ash content, volatile matter, and fixed carbon of Baltic beach wrack are quite comparable to those detected for wheat straw biomass, i.e., 16.09%, 64.42%, and 19.49%, respectively [61]. If compared to algal biomass, data on various microalgae have been compiled and a reveal moisture content of 0-10% (mean 5.04%), a volatile matter content range of 54.45-82.70% (71.50%), an ash content of 2.40-37.80% (8.72%), and a fixed carbon content of 0.69-36.90% (13.37%) [68]; it can be assessed that macroalgal biomass may contain a higher amount of ash and fixed carbon, but a lower content of volatile matter. Proximate analysis parameters are significant indicators for the best choice of applicable waste-to-energy technology affecting thermal decomposition.…”

“…The content of H, N, S, and Cl was considerably lower, being, on average, 4.66%, 3.33%, 1.23%, and 0.87%, respectively (Table 4). If taking into account available data on different microalgae, then the ultimate parameters were detected as follows: 25.46-53.01% (mean 45.20%) of C, 2.79-8.90% (6.80%) of H, 19.30-55.02% (31.95%) of O, 1.01-11.26% (7.20%) of N, and 0.20-2.42% (0.72%) of S [68]. The comparison of data suggests that macroalgal biomass might contain a lower content of C, H, O, and N, but a higher content of S. In another study that presented an ultimate analysis for wheat straw biomass, it was indicated that C and H content (5.57% and 37.20% for wheat straw, respectively) was very similar to beach wrack.…”

“…However, it should be noted that drying of beach wrack is an energy-consuming step that may lead to unprofitable biomass utilization. A study on microalgae provided an overview of the HHV for various microalgae, ranging from 11.10 to 23.52 MJ/kg depending on species; this study also provided a suggestion to predict the HHV taking into account the results of the ultimate and proximate analysis of microalgal biomass [68]. Recalculation using current data for macroalgal biomass and suggested formulas for microalgal biomass [68] resulted in a comparable HHV for beach wrack, ranging from 13.98 to 16.71 MJ/kg and a mean of 14.87 MJ/kg, which matches well with an experimentally estimated HHV for beach wrack, indicating that the calorific values of algal biomass are quite easily predictable.…”

“…A study on microalgae provided an overview of the HHV for various microalgae, ranging from 11.10 to 23.52 MJ/kg depending on species; this study also provided a suggestion to predict the HHV taking into account the results of the ultimate and proximate analysis of microalgal biomass [68]. Recalculation using current data for macroalgal biomass and suggested formulas for microalgal biomass [68] resulted in a comparable HHV for beach wrack, ranging from 13.98 to 16.71 MJ/kg and a mean of 14.87 MJ/kg, which matches well with an experimentally estimated HHV for beach wrack, indicating that the calorific values of algal biomass are quite easily predictable. Another study provided the HHV for various macroalgae species, ranging from 15.00 MJ/kg for Fucus vesiculosus to 17.60 MJ/kg for Laminaria digitata [70], indicating that for separated algae and, therefore, possibly cleaner macroalgal biomass, a higher HHV can be reached.…”