Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of Charcoal Production: Use of Wood Carbonization By-Products
Submission Author:
Sarah Alves e Silva , MG
Co-Authors:
Sarah Alves e Silva, Osvaldo Jose Venturini, Marcio Montagnana Vicente leme
Presenter: Sarah Alves e Silva
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-1750
Abstract
Brazil is the world's leading producer of charcoal, mainly used as a source of carbon in the steel and pig iron industry. Despite its vast production, an important amount part of the Brazilian charcoal production is still rudimentary and inefficient, and there is little use of the by-products generated during the wood carbonization. Charcoal is produced through slow pyrolysis, which also produces condensable gases and non-condensable gases. Usually, carbonization gases are released directly into the atmosphere, causing health and environmental impacts, in addition to energy waste, since the non-condensable gas has about 30-50% of the energy contained in the wood. Much progress can still be made in the sector and, seeking to contribute to reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and improving the efficiency of the charcoal production chain, this work presents the benefits arising from the use of wood carbonization by-products, through a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Therefore, a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was built for a Charcoal Production Unit (CHPU) in Minas Gerais and its forestry unit. The environmental impacts were evaluated by comparing 3 scenarios: i) Current wood carbonization scenario; (ii) Wood carbonization with non-condensable burning gases; iii) Wood carbonization with the recovering of non-condensable gases energy for electricity generation. The results show that throughout the life cycle, the majority of GHG emissions occurs inside the Carbonization Plant, due to the carbonization gases emitted. Within the forestry unit, the emissions with the greatest contribution to the global warming impact were those from burning diesel in forestry operations. The use of nitrogen fertilizers affects other impact categories such as Depletion of the Ozone Layer and Potential for Acidification and Eutrophication. Regarding the Global Warming category of impact (GWP 100a), combustion of carbonization gases is a good option for reducing GHG emissions, however the scenarios considering electricity generation have led to the best result for the category, as the electricity generated and sent to the grid avoids emissions that would be generated in the production of electricity in Brazil.
Keywords
LCA, charcoal production, Electricity generation
