We just had an exciting opportunity to assist with the experimental campaign carried out by the students and researchers from the Combustion and Harmful Emission Control (CHEC) Group at the Danish Technical University (DTU).

The campaign was focused on biochar production and characterisation and it included the experimental run of SS Camilla – the two-stage gasifier designed and developed by the DTU researchers. This reactor has a power output of 50 kWth and can process over 10 kg/h of wheat straw pellets. Thanks to the unique design of the installation, it produces an abundance of high-quality biochar with a well-developed surface area.

In the first stage of the process, the biomass is pyrolyzed, then the pyrolytic char is passed to the reformer. There, under the gasifying atmosphere, volatile contaminations are removed from the syngas. At this stage, the pyrolytic char undergoes thermal activation, which increases its surface area and porosity, yielding a valuable product with versatile use, e.g., as a soil additive or a catalyst. We believe that it will also be an excellent material for the electrochemical applications.

We were lucky enough to participate in the campaign and receive samples of the biochar to test it as our flow-electrodes. Comparison of the char produced in the large-scale reactor with the samples produced in laboratory conditions is crucial for the assessment of the gasification char potential for this application.

We also had the opportunity to talk with the students, which were participating in the DTU biochar course, about the current research activities of our Silesian biochar team. Of course, we included the latest news from the FlowChar project front as well.

Huge thanks to the entire CHEC team, especially Zsuzsa Sárossy, Claus Dalsgaard Jensen, Lidia Benedini, and Ulrik Birk Henriksen, for the warm welcome and exciting exchange of scientific insight. We are looking forward to further cooperation!