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Design, Development, and Optimization of Sustainable Pyrolyzer for Biochar Production from Agricultural Crop Residue

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Abstract

This article presents an energy-efficient biochar kiln that produces biochar from agricultural crop residues. The kiln is designed to be easy to operate and has minimal requirements for special operations. It works by heating biomass in a combustion chamber using recirculated pyrogas. The study optimized the process parameters and economics of producing biochar from wheat straw using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on Central Composite Design (CCD). The sustainable pyrolyzer had a thermal efficiency of 43.69%, with steady-state operation at 517.68 ± 98.18 °C. It produced an average of 54.57 ± 1.86 kg of biochar per batch, using 36.96 ± 3.66 kg of subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) as fuel and 179.61 ± 2.87 kg of wheat straw as feedstock. Subabul is chosen as a fuel due to its rapid growth, high calorific value, low moisture content, efficient combustion, and minimal smoke emission. The thermogravimetric index (TGI) and calorific value of WSB were 7.14 and 25.91 ± 0.74 MJ/kg, respectively. The benefit–cost ratio and payback period were 2.27 ± 0.16 and 4.92 ± 0.44 months, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Govt. of India, for providing financial aid to complete the research project under the Consortium Research Platform (CRP) on Energy from Agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India

    Maga Ram Patel & Narayan Lal Panwar

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India

    Chitranjan Agrawal

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India

    Trilok Gupta

  4. Department of Dairy & Food Microbiology, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India

    Kamalesh Kumar Meena

  5. Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India

    Sanwal Singh Meena

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  1. Maga Ram Patel
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  2. Narayan Lal Panwar
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Contributions

Maga Ram Patel: data curation, investigation, writing—original draft. Narayan Lal Panwar: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, supervision, writing—review and editing. Chitranjan Agrawal, Trilok Gupta, Kamalesh Kumar Meena, Sanwal Singh Meena: formal analysis, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Narayan Lal Panwar.

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Patel, M.R., Panwar, N.L., Agrawal, C. et al. Design, Development, and Optimization of Sustainable Pyrolyzer for Biochar Production from Agricultural Crop Residue. Bioenerg. Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-024-10786-9

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