Particle samples of loblolly pine, fresh sand, used sand, fresh catalyst, and used catalyst were obtained from a single experimental run of the NREL 2FBR system. The NREL system is comprised of a fluidized-bed fast pyrolysis unit and a fluidized-bed vapor phase upgrader for thermochemical conversion of biomass to bio-oil. More information about the NREL 2FBR system is available at ccpcode.github.io/docs-2fbr/ and cpcbiomass.org.

Sieve measurements of the particles were conducted at UTK. Analyses of the particles were performed by Galbraith. Size measurements of the particles were performed by Microtrac. A summary of each folder in this repository is provided below.

code - This folder contains Python code provided as Jupyter notebooks or individual scripts for analyzing data from the sieve measurements, Galbraith analysis, and Microtrac measurements.

data - Data files for the sieve measurements, Galbraith analyses, and Microtrac measurements. There is also a spreadsheet from NREL with various analysis results. Galbraith provided a PDF of their analyses which was used to create an Excel spreadsheet and CSV file. Microtrac provided their measurements as Excel spreadsheets which were used to create the CSV files. Sieve measurements were recorded by hand then entered into CSV files.

results - Plots generated from the code files and Jupyter notebooks.

The samples listed below were obtained from the NREL 2FBR system from a single experiment. Size measurements and chemical analyses were performed on these samples as detailed in the subsequent sections.

• loblolly pine
• char
• fresh catalyst
• used catalyst
• fresh sand
• used sand

Sieve sizes from the bulk char samples.

• char +500 um
• char +425 um, -500 um
• char +355 um, -425 um
• char +300 um, -355 um
• char +212 um, -300 um
• char +125 um, -212 um
• char -125 um

Sieve sizes from the bulk loblolly pine samples.

• pine +500 um
• pine +425 um, -500 um
• pine +355 um, -425 um
• pine +300 um, -355 um
• pine +212 um, -300 um
• pine +125 um, -212 um
• pine -125 um

Sieve sizes of the fresh catalyst samples.

• fresh catalyst +1000 um
• fresh catalyst +847 um, -1000 um
• fresh catalyst +600 um, -847 um
• fresh catalyst +500 um, -600 um
• fresh catalyst +425 um, -500 um
• fresh catalyst +355 um, -425 um
• fresh catalyst +300 um, -355 um
• fresh catalyst -300 um

Sieve sizes of the used catalyst samples.

• used catalyst +1000 um
• used catalyst +847 um, -1000 um
• used catalyst +600 um, -847 um
• used catalyst +500 um, -600 um
• used catalyst +425 um, -500 um
• used catalyst +355 um, -425 um
• used catalyst +300 um, -355 um
• used catalyst -300 um

Samples sent to Microtrac for particle size and shape measurements.

• fresh sand
• used sand

Sieve cuts and number of char samples used for proximate analysis.

• char +500 um x 1
• char +425 um, -500 um x 1
• char +355 um, -425 um x 3
• char +300 um, -355 um x 1
• char +212 um, -300 um x 1
• char +125 um, -212 um x 1
• char -125 um x 1

Sieve cuts and number of loblolly pine samples used for proximate analysis.

• pine +500 um x 1
• pine +425 um, -500 um x 1
• pine +355 um, -425 um x 3
• pine +300 um, -355 um x 1
• pine +212 um, -300 um x 1
• pine +125 um, -212 um x 1
• pine -125 um x 1

Number of samples used for proximate analysis of catalyst and sand material.

• fresh catalyst x 1
• used catalyst x 3
• fresh sand x 1
• used sand x 3

Sieve cuts and number of samples for thermal analysis of char and pine.

• char +355 um, -425 um x 1
• pine +355 um, -425 um x 1

Information such as lab documents, pictures, and original lab results are available in the "NREL 2FBR particles" folder in Dropbox (for CCPC members only).