SECTOR Project successfully finalised!
The European FP7 project SECTOR (Production of Solid Sustainable Energy Carriers from Biomass by Means of Torrefaction) has successfully ended in December 2015 after 4 years of research and was one of the major activities to shorten the time to market for torrefaction technologies.
The Production of Solid Sustainable Energy Carriers from Biomass by Means of Torrefaction - SECTOR -
Within SECTOR, 21 partners from 9 European countries are working jointly together to advance the state of the art of torrefaction as one of the major technologies to achieve the EU renewable energy targets.
Here you can find the link to all papers or books which have been published within the SECTOR project.
Jan Hari Arti Khalsa, Diana Leistner, Nadja Weller, Leilani I. Darvell, Ben Dooley (2016) "Torrefied Biomass Pellets—Comparing Grindability in Different Laboratory Mills" published in Energies → doi:10.3390/en9100794
Daniela Thrän, Janet Witt, Kay Schaubach, Jaap Kiel, Michiel Carbo, Jörg Maier, Collins Ndibe, Jaap Koppejan, Eija Alakangas, Stefan Majer, Fabian Schipfer (2016) “Moving torrefaction towards market introduction – Technical improvements and economic-environmental assessment along the overall torrefaction supply chain through the SECTOR Project.” published in Biomass and Bioenergy → doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.03.004
Ndibe C., Maier J., Scheffknecht G. (2015) "Combustion, cofiring and emissions characteristics of torrefied biomass in a drop tube reactor." published in Biomass and Bioenergy → doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.05.010
Collins Ndibe, Simon Grathwohl, Manoj Paneru, Jörg Maier (2015) "Emissions reduction and deposits characteristics during cofiring of high shares of torrefied biomass in a 500kW pulverized coal furnace." published in Fuel (10th ECCRIA Special Issue) → doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2015.04.017
Meyer Markus, Chand, T., Priess J.A. (2015) "Comparing bioenergy production sites in the southeastern US regarding ecosystem service supply and demand." published in PLOS One → doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116336
Fagernäs L., Kuoppala E., Arpiainen V. (2015) "Composition, utilization and economic assessment of torrefaction condensates" published in Energy & Fuels → doi: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b00004
Järvinen T., Agar D. (2014) "Experimentally determined storage and handling properties of fuel pellets made from torrefied whole-tree pine chips, logging residues and beech stem Wood." published in Fuel → doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2014.03.057
Magnus Rodolfsson, Wolfgang Stelte, Torbjörn A. Lestander (2014) "Process optimization of combined biomass torrefaction and pelletization for fuel pellet production - A parametric study." published in Applied Energy → doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.11.041
Lestander T. A., Rudolfsson M., Pommer L., Nordin A. (2014) "NIR provides excellent predictions of properties of biocoal from torrefaction and pyrolysis of biomass." published in Green Chemistry → doi: 10.1039/c3gc42479k
Meyer M. and Priess J.A. (2014) "Indicators of bioenergy-related certification schemes - An analysis of the quality and comprehensiveness for assessing local/regional environmental Impacts." published in Biomass and Bioenergy → doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.03.041
Kajsa Werner, Linda Pommer, Markus Broström (2014) "Thermal decomposition of hemicelluloses." published in Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis → doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2014.08.013
Fredrik Weiland, Martin Nordwaeger, Ingemar Olofsson, Henrik Wiinikka and Anders Nordin (2014) "Entrained flow gasification of torrefied wood residues." published in Fuel Processing Technology → doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.03.026
Martin Svanberg, Ingemar Olofsson, Jonas Flodén, Anders Nordin (2013) "Analysing biomass torrefaction supply chain costs." published in Bioresource Technology → doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.05.048
Anders Nordin, Linda Pommer, Martin Nordwaeger, Ingemar Olofsson (2013) "Conversion of biomass through torrefaction." Chapter 7 of book "Technologies for converting biomass to useful energy: Combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, torrefaction and fermentation." → ISBN-10: 0415620880 / → ISBN-13: 978-0415620888
Here you can find the public deliverables of the SECTOR-Project.
Here you can find links to background literature on torrefaction technology and related subjects.
- "Possible effects of torrefaction on biomass trade" - IEA Bioenergy Task 40, November 2015
- "Torrefied Wood Pellets for the use in small scale power generation application" - Poster presentation during the EUBC&E 2015
- Chapter 8 "Intermediate Biofuels to Support a Flexible Application of Biomass" from the book "Smart Bioenergy" Springer, 2015, http://www.springer.com/de/book/9783319161921
- IEA Bioenergy Task 32 report - Status overview of torrefaction technologies
- IEA Bioenergy Task 40 report - Possible effect of torrefaction on biomass trade
- "Torrefaction breakthrough imminent" from the Bioenergy Insight Magazine (Issue 4, Volume 3, Page 54-56)
- "Densification challenges" from the Bioenergy Insight Magazine (Issue 4, Volume 3, Page 58-59)
- VTT - "Wood torrefaction - pilot tests and utilisation prospects" (ISBN 978-951-38-8046-0)
- VTT - "Wood torrefaction market prospects and integration with the forest and energy industry" (ISBN 978-951-38-8139-9)
About SECTOR
Boosting Torrefaction as a major renewable energy process
SECTOR (Production of Solid Sustainable Energy Carriers from Biomass by Means of TORrefaction) is a large-scale European project with a strong consortium of 21 partners from industry and science. The project is focused on the further development of torrefaction-based technologies for the production of solid bioenergy carriers up to pilot-plant scale and beyond, and on supporting the market introduction of torrefaction-based bioenergy carriers as a commodity renewable solid fuel.
In parallel to the development of torrefaction and densification technologies the consortium will work on the assessment of selected logistics aspects and the use of torrefied products in existing conversion options as well as fuel specification and testing methods. This is complemented by a full sustainability assessment of torrefaction-based biomass-to-end-use value chains. The partners CENER (Spain), DTI (Denmark), ECN (Netherlands), Topell (Netherlands) and Umeå University (Sweden) provide the knowhow and equipment for the core technologies of torrefaction and densification. Industry partners such as EON (UK), RWE Innogy (Germany) and Vattenfall (Sweden), amongst others, will concentrate on logistics and end use applications. The scientific organisations, like ofi (Austria), TFZ (Germany) and VTT (Finland), bring in their expertise in terms of analysis and testing methodologies as well as standardisation.
In this way, the SECTOR project is expected to shorten the time-to-market of torrefaction technology and to promote market introduction within stringent sustainability boundary conditions. The European Union provides funding for this project within the Seventh Framework Programme. The project started in January 2012 and has a duration of 42 months.
SECTOR Objectives
- Support the market introduction of torrefaction-based bioenergy carriers as a commodity renewable solid fuel
- Further development of torrefaction-based technologies (up to pilot-plant scale and beyond)
- Development of specific production recipes, validated through extensive lab-to-industrial-scale logistics and end-use performance testing
- Development and standardisation of dedicated analysis and testing methods for assessment of transport, storage, handling logistics and end-use performance
- Assessment of the role of torrefaction-based solid bioenergy carriers in the bioenergy value chains and their contribution to the development of the bioenergy market in Europe
- Full sustainability assessment of the major torrefaction-based biomass-to-end-use value chains
- Dissemination of project results to industry and into international forums (e.g. EIBI, EERA, CEN/ISO, IEA and sustainability round tables)
Overview of the SECTOR project
| Project acronym | SECTOR |
| Full title | Production of Solid Sustainable Energy Carriers from Biomass by Means of TORrefaction |
| Project re. no. | 282826 |
Theme | ENERGY.2011.3.7.-1 (Development of new or impoved sustainable bio-energy carriers) |
| Start | 01.01.2012 |
| Duration | 42 months |
| Total budget | 10.29 million Euro |
| EC funding | 7.57 million Euro |
| contract type | Collaborative Project |
| participants | 21 from 9 EU-countries |
The SECTOR project is funded by the European Union through the 7th Framework Programme.
