TORREFACTION TECHNOLOGY

About:

• The torrefaction technology involves heating up straw, grass, saw mill residue and wood biomass to 250 degrees Celsius - 350 degrees Celsius.
  
  
• This changes the elements of the biomass into ‘coal-like’ pellets. These pellets can be used for combustion along with coal for industrial applications like steel and cement production
  
  
• So far, the technology has only been substantially tested in Scandivia as a 16,000 ton/year plant.
  
  

Recent development:

• The Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to Government of India has funded a pilot project in Punjab to evaluate the feasibility of the Torrefaction technology.
  
  
• Bioendev, a Swedish company, has set up a pilot plant at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute in Mohali.