Team Members
Junsung Ra
Amanda Tatem
Alexis Vaccarella
Supervisors
Prof. F. Doug Kelley, Chemical Engineering
Customers
Acorn Biochar
Description
Acorn Biochar produces biochar using CHIP, a continuous pyrolysis reactor, and aims to become self-sustaining by using the exiting pyrolysis gas as fuel. The gaseous byproduct is contaminated with many condensables, including water, bio-oil, and tar. The goal of this project was to deliver clean gas to CHIP’s firebox while condensing out the contaminants and capturing waste heat by designing a water-cooled heat exchanger system.
Phase I: Laboratory Experiment
The first phase of this project was to design and execute an experiment to produce biochar in the lab. This was necessary to obtain pyrolysis process data required for sizing the heat exchanger.
Phase II: Prototype
The second phase was to design a prototype heat exchanger to fit the laboratory setup.
Phase III: Scale Up
The final phase was to scale up the prototype design to meet the requirements of CHIP.
