| Title | Gasification treatment of poplar biomass produced in a contaminated area restored using plant assisted bioremediation |
| Abstract | Remediation of polluted soils using phytoremediation techniques is an effective strategy. However, the use of the biomass from these soils for energy purposes may raise efficiency and pollution emission problems and there is currently little research on this issue.
In this work, the main results of a fluidized-bed gasification treatment conducted on poplar biomass pruning residues from a multi-contaminated area are presented. The samples were collected from an experimental site in which a plant-assisted bioremediation (PABR) technology has been applied since 2013 to reduce the soil heavy metal (HM) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contents. The main goal of this study was to identify the specific treatment necessary, in addition to conventional tar reforming, for trapping possible residues of HMs and PCBs in ashes during the gasification process. In our study, we demonstrate that gasification of contaminated biomass coming from PABR (where contaminant residues are concentrated mainly in the roots and are insignificant in the shoots) produces syngas whose characteristics are similar to those obtained using non-contaminated biomass. The results showed that contaminant concentrations in the prunings were negligible; the total amount of PCBs was 1.63 ng/g, while HMs ranged from 0.01 to 0.70 mg/kg, except for Cu and Zn (~20 mg/kg). Furthermore, the presence in the biomass of Ca and traces of other metals showed a possible catalytic effect with an improvement in the tar conversion in the gasifier leading to a reduction of 5-10% in tar content. The overall results suggest that a specific treatment for pollutant capture is necessary only when the roots, the part of the plants where these contaminants are concentrated, are sampled and used for the gasification process. Although energy from biomass produced on a contaminated site is currently considered waste and involves disposal costs, this paper shows that the poplar biomass grown on a multi-contaminated soil can be used for energy purposes without any impact on the environment. |
| Source | Journal of environmental management 239, pp. 137–141 |
| Keywords | Biomass gasificationGreen remediationPoplarPolychlorinated biphenylsHeavy metalsCalcium catalysisCircular economy |
| Journal | Journal of environmental management |
| Editor | Academic Press., New York, Regno Unito |
| Year | 2019 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.038 |
| Authors | Ancona, Valeria; Barra Caracciolo, Anna ; Campanale, Claudia; De Caprariis, Benedetta; Grenni, Paola; Uricchio, Vito Felice; Borello, Domenico |
| Text | 404811 2019 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.038 ISI Web of Science WOS 000465366100016 Scopus 2 s2.0 85063329023 Biomass gasification Green remediation Poplar Polychlorinated biphenyls Heavy metals Calcium catalysis Circular economy Gasification treatment of poplar biomass produced in a contaminated area restored using plant assisted bioremediation Ancona, Valeria; Barra Caracciolo, Anna ; Campanale, Claudia; De Caprariis, Benedetta; Grenni, Paola; Uricchio, Vito Felice; Borello, Domenico Italian Natl Res Council; Italian Natl Res Council; Sapienza Univ Rome; Sapienza Univ Rome Remediation of polluted soils using phytoremediation techniques is an effective strategy. However, the use of the biomass from these soils for energy purposes may raise efficiency and pollution emission problems and there is currently little research on this issue. In this work, the main results of a fluidized bed gasification treatment conducted on poplar biomass pruning residues from a multi contaminated area are presented. The samples were collected from an experimental site in which a plant assisted bioremediation PABR technology has been applied since 2013 to reduce the soil heavy metal HM and polychlorinated biphenyl PCB contents. The main goal of this study was to identify the specific treatment necessary, in addition to conventional tar reforming, for trapping possible residues of HMs and PCBs in ashes during the gasification process. In our study, we demonstrate that gasification of contaminated biomass coming from PABR where contaminant residues are concentrated mainly in the roots and are insignificant in the shoots produces syngas whose characteristics are similar to those obtained using non contaminated biomass. The results showed that contaminant concentrations in the prunings were negligible; the total amount of PCBs was 1.63 ng/g, while HMs ranged from 0.01 to 0.70 mg/kg, except for Cu and Zn 20 mg/kg . Furthermore, the presence in the biomass of Ca and traces of other metals showed a possible catalytic effect with an improvement in the tar conversion in the gasifier leading to a reduction of 5 10% in tar content. The overall results suggest that a specific treatment for pollutant capture is necessary only when the roots, the part of the plants where these contaminants are concentrated, are sampled and used for the gasification process. Although energy from biomass produced on a contaminated site is currently considered waste and involves disposal costs, this paper shows that the poplar biomass grown on a multi contaminated soil can be used for energy purposes without any impact on the environment. 239 Published version https //www.scopus.com/record/display.uri eid=2 s2.0 85063329023 origin=resultslist sort=plf f src=s st1= st2= sid=adefbdba1c3d9b8295528cbb9d0e3ad6 sot=b sdt=b sl=132 s=TITLE ABS KEY%28Gasification treatment of poplar biomass produced in a contaminated area restored using plant assisted bioremediation%29 relpos=0 citeCnt=13 searchTerm= Gasification treatment of poplar biomass produced in a contaminated area restored using plant assisted bioremediation Ancona et al., JEMA_2019 1_5_JEMA_Gasification_poplar.pdf Articolo in rivista Academic Press. 0301 4797 Journal of environmental management Journal of environmental management J. environ. manag. claudiacampanale CAMPANALE CLAUDIA vitofelice.uricchio URICCHIO VITO FELICE anna.barracaracciolo BARRA CARACCIOLO ANNA paola.grenni GRENNI PAOLA valeria.ancona ANCONA VALERIA |
