Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 88 (2018) 184–192

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Review of solar energy for biofuel extraction T

a a,⁎ b
Haftom Weldekidan , Vladimir Strezov , Graham Town
a
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
b
School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: One of the most complex challenges of today is managing greenhouse gas emissions produced by excessive use of
Solar thermal fossil fuels as energy source. With fossil fuels dominating the energy production, the sustainable and environ-
Biomass mental problems will continue unless alternative sources of energy are put in place. Biomass is considered as a
Biofuel promising sustainable energy source which can be introduced to the energy mix. One way of converting raw
Thermochemical conversion
biomass to higher value biofuels is following the thermochemical conversion processes, which include pyrolysis,
Pyrolysis
gasification, torrefaction, combustion and distillation. However, these processes typically require heat energy to
Gasification
treat the biomass, which is often supplied from non-renewable energy sources. This greatly reduces the con-
version efficiency and causes environmental problems. Utilization of solar energy for assisting the biomass
conversion through thermochemical conversion process significantly improves the overall sustainability and
process performance. This work reviews the solar based technologies and their application to solar assisted
biomass utilization and conversion technologies. The review then discusses outcomes of different solar assisted
biomass pyrolysis and gasification processes performed to date. It also presents the status of solar assisted dis-
tillation for improving ethanol concentration.

1. Introduction problems faced by the modern society [6]. Until 2012, global biomass
use was 8–14% of the world final energy consumption. The annual
Due to the rapid global population growth and rising living stan- availability of biomass is estimated to reach as high as 108 Gtoe, which
dards, there has been a significant increase in energy demand and is almost ten times the world's current energy requirement [7–10].
consumption over the last several decades [1]. By 2040, the total en- There should be efficient utilization of biomass through the adop-
ergy use is expected to grow by about 40% of the current use. Even tion of improved energy technologies. There are many existing pro-
though the share of fossil fuels in the entire energy mix is expected to cesses that convert raw biomass to usable forms of energy and chemi-
fall, it will still remain the dominant source of energy with oil, coal and cals. These include combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, torrefaction,
gas each expected to account to over 25% of the global energy needs liquefaction, esterification and fermentation [11,12]. These processes
[2]. It is also estimated that the world population will reach 9.3 billion are considered as critical biomass utilization alternatives, offering
by 2050 [3]. This rapid population growth will increase the energy economic benefits through the production of high value fuel gasses and
demand while fossil fuels, being dominant energy sources, are esti- liquids, char and chemicals [13–16]. These processes are highly en-
mated to significantly deplete after 70 years [4]. It is inevitable that dothermic requiring large heat input generally supplied from non-re-
sustainability and environmental challenges will continue, unless an newable sources of energy [3]. Solar energy can be captured and stored
alternative source of energy is put in place ahead of time. The existing in chemicals or fuels, also known as solar fuels, for later use and easy
pattern of energy supply cannot be sustained in the near future because transportation. Utilization of solar energy for assisting the biomass
of the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and also environmental impacts conversion through distillation or thermochemical processing is ex-
from their use [5]. According to Morales et al. [3] one of the most pected to significantly improve the overall biofuel life cycle perfor-
complex challenges faced today is managing and halting climate mance. Recently, biofuel extraction technologies using concentrated
changes produced by the over-exploitation of natural resources. solar energy have been tested in solar reactors with real sun [17].
Biomass is seen as the most promising energy source to mitigate Current technologies consist of concentrating part with polished alu-
greenhouse gas emissions. Substantial adoption of this ubiquitous en- minium or glass mirror as reflecting surface, while the biomass reactors
ergy source could alleviate the environmental, social and economic are mostly made of quartz or borosilicate glasses and metals, such as

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (V. Strezov).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.02.027
Received 30 November 2016; Received in revised form 2 November 2017; Accepted 27 February 2018
1364-0321/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Weldekidan et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 88 (2018) 184–192

steel, including controllers for temperatures, heating rates, pressure and catalytic conversion are advanced engineering processes developed to
tracking units [18]. optimize the production of syngas. Gasification is highly endothermic
The objective of this work is to review solar based technologies and process. The heat required to maintain this process is supplied from
their applications for solar assisted biomass utilization and conversion non-renewable sources of energy by burning significant portion (at least
technologies. The first part of the paper describes the fundamental 35%) of the feedstock or using the electric grid which lowers the final
conversion mechanisms of biomass to biofuels, with emphasis on the efficiency of the process [21–23].
thermochemical conversion mechanisms. Different types of solar con- Pyrolysis is another thermochemical process that uses heat in the
centrating technologies with potential to capture the solar heat to drive near absence of oxygen to destruct biomass to produce biofuels, bio-oils
the thermochemical conversion process are further discussed. (bio-crude), biogas and char. Pyrolysis has high flexibility in that it can
Integration of the prospective solar collectors with biomass reactors are be used to produce heavy fuel oil for heat and power applications,
additionally elaborated. Finally, review of the solar assisted pyrolysis, upgraded for conventional refinery operations, or it can be gasified for
gasification and status of solar assisted distillation process, together syngas which can be converted to hydrogen. Pyrolysis can convert over
with characterization of the different product fractions obtained from 60 wt% of the biomass into liquid bio-oil [24]. Pyrolysis requires
the processes, are presented. moderate temperature in the range of 400–600 °C to depolymerize
biomass to a mixture of oxygenates (or ‘bio-oil’) that are liquid at room
temperature [25]. This external heat energy generally comes from
2. Overview of biomass to biofuel conversion mechanisms burning part of the biomass or fossil fuels or using grid electricity [3].

Biofuel is a type of energy derived from biomass such as plants,

agricultural, animal, domestic and industrial wastes. Biomass can be 3. Energy from the sun
converted into higher value biofuels either through biochemical, ther-
mochemical or physico-chemical processes. About 885 million terawatt hours reach the earth's surface in a year
Biochemical conversion process involves fermentation of the sugars which is 4200 times the energy that mankind would consume in 2035
into alcohols, such as ethanol. This includes biomass pre-treatment according to the IEA's Current Policies Scenario [26]. In just three hours
followed by fermentation of the sugars to ethanol then separation and the Earth collects enough solar radiation to meet world's energy needs
purification to produce pure ethanol [19]. Fig. 1 shows the recent for one year. If one-tenth of one percent of the solar energy is captured
trends for the second generation of biofuel production through bio- and distributed, then the energy supply problem disappears [26].
chemical process from lignocellulosic biomass. The efficiency of the Biomass captures and converts solar radiation into energy (CxH2xOx)
biochemical conversion process is between 35% and 50%wt [20]. This through photosynthesis. Agrawal and Singh [27] provided a review on
process can also be used to transform biomass into any type of petro- the fraction of solar energy which can be recovered as biofuels, mainly
chemical product compounds, such as olefins and aromatics which are liquid fuels for transportation purpose, via the cultivation and then
made from petroleum or fossil fuels. conversion of the biomass using different methods (pyrolysis, gasifica-
Distillation is typically used to produce, separate and distil ethanol tion, fermentation, H2bioil B and H2CAR processes). The highest sun-
into usable fuels. The energy is supplied through either an external heat light conversion efficiency for a full season growing biomass can be
source, such as gas or electricity from grid. In both cases, this practice achieved up to 3.7% [28]. Fast pyrolysis of biomass can generate
reduces the environmental benefits of the biomass conversion processes 524–627 liters of liquid fuel per year which corresponds to recovery of
on a full life cycle basis. 65–77% of the absorbed solar energy by the biomass. Estimates of the
Thermochemical processes of converting biomass into biofuels in- solar energy recovery as liquid fuels from fermentation, gasification,
volve application of heat energy to treat the biomass in the conversion H2bioil-B and H2CAR processing of biomass were found to be 41–50,
process with conversion efficiencies in the range between 41% and 77% 35–50, 59–69% and 58% respectively [27]. Using supplementary en-
wt [20]. The treatment processes include combustion, gasification and ergy such as H2 or electricity that is recovered from solar energy at
pyrolysis. higher efficiencies than the biomass can increase the fuel yield by a
Combustion is the direct burning of biomass in the air for the pur- factor of 1.5–3 [27].
pose of heating and power generation, initially practiced for long time These estimates can be considerably improved if the heat energy for
since mankind has started using fire. Gasification is a process that biomass conversion can be supplied from the sun using solar con-
converts organic or fossil fuel based carbonaceous materials into carbon centrating technologies. The following section describes the solar con-
monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen known as syngas. The syngas centrating technologies available to integrate with biomass conversion
can be processed to produce different types of gaseous biofuels and li- for production of biofuels from biomass.
quids. Gasification is achieved by reacting the material at high tem-
peratures (> 700 °C), without combustion, but with a controlled
amount of oxygen and/or steam. Fisher-Tropsch process with chemical

Fig. 1. Biochemical process of biofuel production.

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3.1. Solar concentrating technologies concentration ratio of 3. Thus, unless augmented by additional heat
source the compound parabolic collector alone cannot be used for the
Solar concentrators are devices which focus the solar energy in- purpose of biomass thermal processing.
cident over a large surface onto a smaller surface. There are several
types of solar concentrating technologies that can capture the energy 3.4. Linear Fresnel reflectors
from the sun and make it available for application in the biomass to
biofuel conversion processes. These are parabolic troughs [29], helio- Linear Fresnel reflectors use long and thin segments of mirrors to
stat fields, linear Fresnel reflectors, parabolic dishes, compound para- focus sunlight onto a fixed absorber/reactor located at a common focal
bolic concentrators, flat plates [30], box type and linear Fresnel lenses point of the reflectors. The reflectors are made from cheap flat mirrors
[29–33]. Each of these technologies differs in the achievable tempera- and can concentrate sun's rays 30 times. The operation temperature at
ture, focal type, reflective material, operation characteristics, design the focal line is 150 °C but, with the use of secondary concentrator,
and application, and therefore each has their own advantages and temperatures of up to 300 °C can be reached. Additionally, if compound
drawbacks for use in biofuel production. It is important to make ap- parabolic collector is integrated with linear Fresnels the optical and
propriate technology choice for use in converting biomass to higher capture efficiencies can be improved to 60% and 76% respectively
value biofuels. [37,42]. The reactor used with linear Fresnel is separated from the
Flat plate solar collectors are suitable to produce hot water up to reflector field and is stationary. The capital and maintenance cost are
80 °C, but flat plate solar collectors integrated with evacuated tubes can much lower than the other types of solar collectors [37,42].
reach a temperature of 125 °C. The ability to boil water under ambient
sunlight without optical concentration was demonstrated by Ni et al. 3.5. Parabolic dish reflector
[34]. Ni et al. [34] used graphite as absorber material. To reduce heat
losses, bottom of the absorber was insulated using thermal foam and A parabolic dish is a surface generated by a parabola revolving
sheet of transparent bubble wrap was placed on the top. The arrange- around its axis. It can be used to concentrate the solar rays and achieve
ment was able to generate saturated steam at 100 °C at efficiency as reactor temperatures as high as 2000 °C. Depending on the size, a solar
high as 64%. parabolic dish can have concentration ratio [47] in the range of
Higher temperatures can be obtained with solar parabolic trough 500–2000. The parabolic dish is mainly used to concentrate solar ra-
collectors which achieve temperatures greater than 400 °C [3]. This diation for low, medium and high-temperature applications [35,36] but
type of arrangement is used to produce steam in industrial operations requires two dimensional continuous tracking as the concentrated solar
whereby thermal energy collected in the receiver part is transported by rays should be focused onto a single focal point [37]. Parabolic dish has
a heat transfer medium to the intended place. Higher temperature can the highest capture of solar energy achieving optical efficiency (ratio of
be achieved with central receiver systems or dish concentrators which energy reaching the absorber to the irradiance falling on the collector
can achieve temperatures of up to 2000 °C. surface) of up to 94%.
With the correct reflective filming of the collector and black reactor
3.2. Parabolic trough concentrator coating, a reactor or receiver placed at the focal point can reach a
temperature well over 1000 °C [38]. For solar thermochemical pro-
A parabolic trough is a type of solar thermal device which is straight cesses, particularly with solar parabolic dish the best candidate re-
in one dimension and curved as a parabola (two-dimensional U-shaped flective coatings are silver coated glass and silvered polymer films.
symmetrical curve) in the other two. The side that faces the sun is lined Polymer reflectors are lighter in weight, offer greater system design
with a highly reflective material thus solar radiation is reflected onto a flexibility and have the potential for a lower cost than glass reflectors
linear receiver placed at the focal line of the parabola [37,43]. The [48,49]. The current research trends in the assessment of efficient solar
reactor can be placed at this linear focal point of the parabolic trough reflective materials for long-term outdoor application range from var-
concentrator. Typically, a reactor made from metal of high thermal ious silvered glass mirrors, silvered polymer films and anodized
conductivity or evacuated glass tube can reach working temperatures of sheet aluminium with additional protective polymer coating [50–52].
over 400 °C and concentration ratio (ratio between the concentrator Plain aluminium, with reflectivity of 85%, is the other reflector coating
opening area and the aperture area that receives) of 30–100 [40]. which is of interest for its low cost [53,54].
Copper or bimetallic copper-steel are good options for this purpose but A number of studies are available on black coatings for solar
stratification is unavoidable [44]. An optical efficiency of 80% has been thermal applications. Black coating materials should be low-cost, easy
recorded in California providing 354 W/m2 and a stagnation tempera- to manufacture, chemically stable and able to withstand high tem-
ture of 600 °C [39]. Biomass reactor system, if used with parabolic peratures [55]. Moon et al. [56] performed several experiments on
troughs, can be either heated directly [45] in the focal line or use heat black oxide nanoparticles as solar absorbing material for a high-tem-
transferring medium to heat the reactor placed out of the focal line. perature concentrating solar system. Accordingly, cobalt oxide (Co3O4)
There are technical challenges that should be taken into consideration black coated layer exhibited high-temperature durability and hardly
while using parabolic trough for biomass processing including the risk degraded in structure after long working hours. The light absorbing
of overheating tubes and instability of the bioreactor. Also, complex performance of Co3O4 was found to be 88.2% making it promising
control mechanisms are required if an indirect heating system of the candidate for solar absorption in the next-generation high-temperature
bioreactor is to be employed [37]. solar concentrating systems.
Higher temperature can also be achieved if the receiver or reactor is
3.3. Linear compound parabolic collector enveloped in a glass tube. This gives the parabolic dishes the potential
to eventually become one of the important devices for solar thermo-
A linear compound parabolic collector reflector is used as a non- chemical conversion processes. Moreover, parabolic dish systems are
tracking system to concentrate solar energy to a double-sided flat re- typically designed for small-to-moderate capacity applications of the
ceiver/reactor which is normal to the compound parabolic collector order of ten kilowatts which are suitable for remote power needs in
axis [46]. The common configuration has bottom section resembling a rural areas and the places far away from the national electricity grid.
circle while the upper section is a parabola, thus the focus is a line Another advantage of the parabolic dish is unlike other solar thermal
stretching from edge to edge. This is a non-imaging linear concentrator systems such as parabolic trough, Fresnel mirrors and compound
which can also work as a stationary collector without tracking system parabolic, levelled ground is not a requirement for its installation or
[41]. Maximum achievable temperature is only 200 °C for operation [37]. Despite all these benefits, the drawback with the

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Table 1 transmission may be limited depending on the absorber and conductive

Solar collectors, focal type, and achievable temperature levels. material used. Maximum operating temperature, thermal conductivity,
inertness to chemical reaction, resistance to thermal shocks and ra-
Type of concentrator Focus type Temperature (°C) Reference
diative absorbance are few of the drawbacks [59]. Moreover, packing
Parabolic dish reflector Focal point > 1500 [35–38] density of the biomass, ability to move through the reactor, the size of
Parabolic trough Focal line 400 [39,40] the particles and physical properties of the reactants can affect the heat
Linear compound parabolic Focal line 200 [41]
transfer conditions [62]. Adinberg et al. [62] suggested use of inter-
Linear Fresnel Focal line 300 [37,42]
mediate fluids such as gasses, liquid metals or molten salts to improve
the heat transfer conditions from the reactor to the feedstock. Indirect
parabolic dish is its high cost and manufacturing difficulties. The re- reactors can be made from metals with high thermal conductivity. As-
flector, in many cases the mirror, is the major contributor to the high suming thermal conductivity, cost, manufacturing ability, durability
cost although there are alternatives such as stretched aluminium silv- and weight of the metals the candidate reactor materials are commer-
ered polymer which considerably reduces the cost from $80–150/m2 to cial copper (K = 423 W/m. K), aluminium (K = 215 W/m. K), pure
$40–80/m2 and have longer life span than reflective materials used to silver (K = 418 W/m. K). Enveloping the reactor by evacuated tube
make mirrors [37]. Table 1 summarizes potential solar collectors for prevents the radiative heat loss and hence improves reactor perfor-
biomass thermochemical conversion process. mance.

4.2. Solar assisted pyrolysis

4. Solar assisted thermochemical conversions
Application of solar energy for biomass thermochemical conversion
4.1. Solar assisted thermochemical reactors dates back to the 1980s, starting with solar simulators, called furnace
images, as sources of radiation, and parabolic or elliptic mirrors as
In the solar thermochemical production of biofuels, the feedstock is concentrators [17]. Solar simulators were produced from powerful light
placed in a reactor and heated by the solar collector either directly or sources, such as carbon arcs, xenon lamp and mercury-xenon arc lamps.
indirectly. In a directly heated reactor, Fig. 2(a), the substrate is ex- Some of the pioneering works which use solar simulators for biomass
posed to the concentrated solar radiation through a transparent con- pyrolysis were [63–69].
tainer, made of borosilicate glass or fused quartz providing efficient Solar assisted pyrolysis is currently an emerging technology [69,70]
energy transfer to the reaction site by direct radiation. In the directly for biomass conversion to biofuels and biochar which is attracting a
heated reactor [45], the solar reactor walls should be clean at all time considerable research interest at present. Table 2 summarises the per-
not to hinder the passage of the concentrated rays to the feedstock formance parameters of the solar assisted pyrolysis performed for
[57–59]. The challenge to keep reactor windows clean can be overcome production of gas, liquid biofuels and bio-char.
by using indirectly irradiated reactors but at the expense of heat Zeng et al. [70] conducted laboratory scale solar pyrolysis experi-
transfer efficiency. In indirect reactors, the solar energy is first absorbed ment on pellets of wood and investigated the influence of temperature
by opaque wall reactor then transferred to the biomass by conduction using different flow rates of argon as a sweep gas. The experiments were
[47] or convection with heat transferring fluid [60,61]. Heat conducted using down ward facing 1.5 kW parabolic solar dish

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of directly (a) and indirectly (b) irradiated solar reactors.

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Table 2
Summary of solar assisted biomass pyrolysis.

Ref. Heat source Power (KW) Range of temp. Heating rates Samples studied Yield summary
(°C) (°C/s)

[70] Solar simulator 1.5 600–2000 50 Pellet wood Gases (CO, CH4) 15.3–37.1% and liquids 70.7–51.6%
[71] Solar dish 1.5 600–2000 5–450 Beech wood 28.% liquid bio oil, 10% char and 62% gas (H2, CH4, CO,
CO2 and C2H6)
[72] Solar dish 1.5 800–2000 50–450 Beech wood Gases (H2, CO, CO2, CH4, and C2H6) heating value increased
about five times (3,527–14,589 kJ/kg)
[73] solar simulator 1.5 600–2000 5–450 Wood char yield decreased with temperature and heating rate in
the temperature range
[69] Xenon lamp 907–487 Oak wood Gas and char
[3] Parabolic trough 465 Orange peel liquid (77.64 wt%), a non-condensable gas (1.43 wt%) and
char 20.93 wt%
[74] Sun simulator 800–2000 50 Sawdust, peach pit, grape stalk Gas (63 wt%), tar and char (37 wt%)
and grape marc
[75] 500 5 Date seed Liquid (50 wt%), solid char and gas (50 wt%)
[76] Parabolic trough > 270 0.5 Wood Charcoal (39%)
[77] Fresnel lens 850 Scrap tyres Oil and gas
[78] Linear mirror 500 Agricultural wastes Charcoal
[79] Solar dish 1.5–2 600–2000 10 and 50 Beech wood Char, tar and gases
[80] 7 Kw xenon short- 5800 kW/m2 Algae, wheat straw and sludge 63–90 vol% Syngas
arc lamp

*Note that empty cells are due to the absence of data.

concentrator focusing the solar rays into a pellet placed at the focus of Zeng et al. [72] performed solar pyrolysis experiment to identify the
the parabolic dish inside a transparent and insulated graphite crucible. effects of process parameters (temperature and heating rate) to opti-
Series of heliostat mirrors were used to reflect the solar rays and con- mize the solar pyrolysis process to produce combustible gasses from
tinuously re-direct them to the parabolic dish for exact concentration at sawdust using solar dish which can generate flux intensity of
the focal point. The temperature and heating rate of the sample were 15,000 kW/m2 for 1000 W/m2 of direct normal irradiance. The setup
controlled by a shutter which applies a Proportional-Integral-Derivative was equipped with solar “blind optical” pyrometer, for measuring the
Controller that modulates the incident radiation. The reactor was made sample temperature and solar tracker for adjusting the system to
to accommodate gas inlets and outlets to permit entrance and exit of achieve maximum solar radiation during the day. Sample of wood
argon gas and reaction products respectively. It was demonstrated that (diameter 10 mm and height 5 mm) placed in a 6 L transparent Pyrex
the temperature greatly affects products of pyrolysis compared to the balloon reactor was directly heated from a solar dish with a 1.5 kW
sweep gas. The gas yields (mainly CO and CH4) were found to increase power. Temperature 800 °C to 2000 °C, heating rate 50–450 °C/s were
from 15.3%wt to 37.7%wt when the temperature increased from 600 to the operating variables. Box-Behnken design experiments were per-
2000 °C at 50 °C/s heating rate. The higher the temperature the higher formed to optimize the process. It was shown that temperature and
was the gas yield but the liquid yield decreased from 70.7%wt to 51.6% heating rate were the most influencing factors for the lower heating
wt with temperature showing most of the tar was decomposed at lower value, gas composition and product distributions but the effect of argon
temperature ranges. flow rate was found to be minimal. The lower heating value of the
Zeng et al. [71] further performed pyrolysis of wood using solar produced gas (H2, CO, CO2, CH4, and C2H6) increased with temperature
energy. The solar concentrator was made from downward facing and heating rates. Particularly, the lower heating value increased four
parabolic mirror 2 m in diameter and 0.85 m focal length. It was times (from 3527 to 14, 589 kJ/kg) using solar pyrolysis of the wood.
equipped with a sensor which detects the sun and adjusts the system for Similar experimental set up was used by Zeng et al. [73] who
maximum concentration at the focal point where the substrate was conducted solar pyrolysis in a laboratory scale reactor producing char
placed and directly heated by the solar radiation. The maximum power from wood. The biomass samples were prepared into cylinders of size
was 1.5 kW and 15,000 W/m2 flux density. A sweeping argon gas was 10 mm in diameter and 5 mm thickness. The char produced increased
used to wash walls of the transparent pyrex reactor wall so as to clean its surface area and pore volume until the temperature reached 1200 °C
and pass the radiation. The main objective of the experiment was to then decreased significantly at 2000 °C. In a similar way, the pore vo-
determine the optimal parameters to maximize lower heating values of lume and surface area increased with the heating rate until 150 °C/s but
wood gas products of pyrolysis during solar pyrolysis processes. slightly decreased afterward.
Heating rates (5–450 °C/s) and pressure (0.44–1.14 bar) were the in- Theoretical and experimental studies of oak wood fast pyrolysis
vestigated parameters in a temperature ranging of 600 °C to 2000 °C. were conducted under controlled heat flux densities (0.3–0.8 MW/m2)
62% of the products were gases (H2, CH4, CO and CO2) and remaining and temperature range of 907–487 °C generated from xenon lamp in an
28% and 10% were liquid bio-oil and char respectively. The effect of elliptical solar mirrors [69]. The study was conducted to investigate the
temperature was found to be the most significant parameter in de- effect of heat flux density on the pyrolysis zone thickness of the wood. It
termining the characteristics of solar pyrolysis products and gas com- was shown that the pyrolysis zone thickness of the wood decreased with
position. More hydrogen and carbon monoxide were obtained at the increasing flux density and influenced the char yields and gas
1200 °C, 50 °C/s heating rate and atmospheric pressure. The Lower composition for the lower flux density, the thickness varied from
Heating Value (LHV) increased five times when the temperature in- 180 × 10−6 to 750 × 10−6 m but for higher heat flux it was sig-
creased from 600 °C to 1200 °C and heating rate increased from 5 °C/s nificantly smaller and varied from 100 × 10−6 to 225 × 10−6 m.
to 50 °C/s. Moreover, the heating rate had substantial influence but the Morales et al. [3] investigated orange-peel pyrolysis using solar
effect of pressure was not significant on the product distribution of the energy from parabolic trough solar concentrator. The trough was able
solar pyrolysis process. The highest lower heating value (LHV), which to generate 27,088 W/m2 which is equivalent to 31 times of the
was 10,376 kJ/kg, was found at 1200 °C, heating rate 50 °C/s and available solar energy in the location. The solar pyrolysis reactor,
0.85 bar. placed at the focal line of the parabola, reached a peak temperature of

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Table 3
Summary of solar assisted gasification.

Ref. Heat source Power Range of temperature Samples studied Yield summary
(°C)

[21] Artificial radiation from Xenon 1000 suns Beech wood H2 (38%vol), CO (31%vol), CH4 (13%vol) and
arc lamp CO2 (8.5%vol)
[84] Laboratory scale Heliostat 727–1227 Fossil fuel Syngas and methanol; system efficiency was
concentrator 56.9%
[85] Parabolic trough 350 Biomass Char; system efficiency was 19.2%
[86,87] Parabolic trough 400–410 Biomass H2 (24.1%), CO (34.2%), CO2 (33.8%) and CH4
(7.7%)
[88] dish concentrator 3.7–7.2 kW 500–600 ethylene glycol, ethanol, glycerine H2 (10–26 mol/kg); gasification efficiency
and glucose ranges 48.5–105.8%
[89,90] 1500 suns 1227 carbonaceous feedstock 37% (solar to chemical conversion efficiency)
[91] 1 MW 1200–1300 Wood waste Hydrogen at 13% conversion efficiency
[92] Concentrate solar system 25–80 kW/m2 Beechwood Char (45–20%), liquid (55%) and gas (10–25%)
[62] Electrically heated reactor 800–915 Cellulose Syngas with 94% conversion efficiency

465 °C and a total weight loss of 79% was achieved on the orange peel range over 500 °C [81,82].
at an average irradiance of 12.55 kW/m2. In this study it was possible to Solar energy, concentrated by Linear Mirrors, was used to drive the
pyrolyse the orange peel to a liquid (77.64 wt%) and a non-condensable pyrolysis of agricultural wastes such as wheat straw [78]. The system
gas (1.43 wt%), leaving 20.93 wt% biochar in the reactor. Furthermore, consists of sets of linear mirrors and a rectangular hollow section steel
the work demonstrated the possibility for obtaining valuable chemical as a reactor placed at 5 m from the mirrors. A maximum temperature of
and pharmaceutical products such as diisooctyl phthalate, squalene, D- 500 °C was reached in about 90 min in the reactor which contains the
limonene, (Z)-0-octadecenamide and phenol, in addition to the pro- wheat straw. In eight hours of sunshine per day, the system produces
duction of combustible gasses such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide, solar carbon (charcoal) with an energy density of 24–28 MJ/kg from a
generated through solar radiation augmented by conventional heating biomass of 16.9 MJ/kg. More discussion on the design, construction
sources, including microwave and plasma. and concentration principles of solar linear mirrors are presented in
Li et al. [74] conducted solar pyrolysis in a laboratory scale solar Hans et al. [78].
reactor to produce fuel gas from pine sawdust, peach pit, grape stalk Sori et al. [79] studied beech wood pellet degradation under fast
and grape marc. The solar energy was concentrated to a temperature of solar pyrolysis with CFD modelling. Simulation results were compared
800–2000 °C using solar dish. The samples were prepared to a cylinder to experimental tests carried out using Zeng et al. (2015d) [73] solar
of size 10 mm in diameter by 5 mm height with approximate weight of facility at temperatures ranging from 600 to 2000 °C, and heating rates
0.3 g. For each type of biomass, the influences of final temperature, of 10 and 50 °C/s. Results indicated that increasing the heating rate
heating rate and lignocellulose composition were analysed. The results improved both uniformity of the char profile and intra-particle tar de-
showed increased gas yield and tar decomposition with temperature composition, thus producing more volatiles. Moreover, the higher the
and heating rates, whereas the liquid yield progressed oppositely. The temperature and heating rate the higher the gas yield, improving the
highest gas yield of 63.5 wt% was obtained from pine sawdust at intra-particle tar decomposition [83]. Solar driven pyrolysis and gasi-
1200 °C and 50 °C/s. The remaining 37%wt were tar and char. Higher fication of algae, wheat straw and sewage sludge were analysed with
lignin content promoted char production whereas higher cellulose and high flux solar simulator [80]. The facility consisted of 7 kW xenon
hemicellulose contents increased the gas yields. The H2/CO ratio was short-arc lamp, flat mirror, two ellipsoidal mirrors and stainless steel
always greater than one for both grape by-products, grape marc and reactor. The arc discharge was located in one of the ellipsoid loci, then
grape stalk. emitted radiation was reflected by the flat mirror and concentrated on
Joardder et al. [75] designed a laboratory scale solar assisted fast the second ellipsoid mirror to give maximum flux of 5800 kW/m2 at the
pyrolysis reactor where part of the reaction heat came from a solar focal plane. Released gases contained syngas in the range of 63–74 vol%
concentrator. Dried date seeds ground to sizes of 0.2–0.6 cm3 in size for pyrolysis (highest for sludge) and 82–90 vol% for gasification
were used as feedstock. It was found that 50%wt of the liquids were (highest for algae).
produced at 500 °C with a running time of 120 min. It was also found
that solar energy would contribute to the reduction of both CO2 emis-
sions and fuel cost by 32.4%. 4.3. Solar assisted gasification processes
A semi-static parabolic solar concentrator with a surface area of
1.37 m2 was tested by Ramos and Perez-Marquez [76]. During the ex- There is a limited number of studies with various degrees of success
periment the temperature in the receiver was above 270 °C. The pro- on the integration of concentrated solar radiations with biomass gasi-
totype was able to produce 70 g of biochar out of 180 g of wood in five fication, summarised in Table 3. Pozzobon et al. [21] developed a ga-
hours in a sunny day, which implies a conversion efficiency of 38%. sification reactor system comprising of artificial sun, xenon arc lamp
In a separate work, solar radiation was concentrated by a Fresnel capable of producing heat fluxes higher than 1000 suns, and new re-
lens to a maximum temperature of 850 °C in a simulated solar radiation action chamber. This system allowed investigation of thermal gasifi-
intensity of 1500 W/m2 [77]. This solar system, integrated with an cation behaviour of thick beech wood when exposed to radiative heat.
automated solar tracking electronic system, was able to pyrolyse scrap The impact of moisture content and wood fibre orientation relative to
tyres at a temperature of 550 °C. The experiment was carried out in the solar flux were tested and showed that increasing sample's moisture
presence of H-beta, HUSY and TiO2 catalysts. Pyrolysis with the H-beta content led to direct drying steam gasification of the char. With 50%wt
catalyst gives high oil and high gas yield of 32.8%. The TiO2 and non- moisture content of the beach wood, the gasification products were H2
catalysed pyrolysis results in gas-like product (isopropane) with a 38%vol, 31%vol CO and 13%vol CH4; while CO2 was 8.5%vol. Up to
quantity of 76.4 and 88.4 wt% respectively. Previous studies on tyre 72% of the incident solar power was captured in chemical form in this
pyrolysis revealed that oil and gas yield increase considerably with work. The wood fibre orientation was found to have no major impact on
temperature but the effect of temperature reduces in a temperature the production rates and gas composition.
Ravaghi-Ardebili et al. [93] re-designed gasifier coupled with a low-

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temperature solar driven steam and investigated the impact of re- 1 MW and 1473 to 1573 K and presented sunlight into hydrogen con-
sidence time of solid fuel and gas phase, as well as the amount of in- version efficiencies of wood waste at more than 13% efficiency.
jected oxygen and steam on the gasification performance. Manenti and Production of synthetic fuels through biomass gasification was
Ravaghi-Ardebili [94] performed dynamic simulation and control of studied by Nzihou et al. [92]. It was demonstrated that the efficiency of
concentrating solar plants with the aim to define a reasonably simpli- the process can be improved by supplying process heat from con-
fied layout as well as highlight the main issues for characterization of centrated solar systems. Beechwood cylinders 40 mm in diameter were
the process dynamics of these energy systems and their related energy irradiated using concentrated solar radiation. The production of char
storage capabilities. When operating parameters such as feedstock size, fell from 45% to 20% when the irradiation level was increased from 25
ratio of steam to biomass, type of biomass, geometry of reactors, air and to 80 kW/m2, while the liquid yield increased to 55% and the gas yield
temperature effects are optimized then heat energy collected from a increased slowly from 10% to 25%.
solar concentrator can be stored on a working fluid and therefore Gasification of cellulose particles heated in a molten sodium car-
generate power for biomass gasification activities. bonate and potassium carbonate medium at 800–915 °C was in-
Bai et al. [84] proposed solar driven biomass gasification system vestigated in a laboratory scale electrically heated reactor [62]. About
with the generation of methanol and electricity. The system consisted of 94%wt of the biomass was converted to syngas primarily composed of
three main parts, power generation subsystem (laboratory scale helio- H2, CO2, CH4 and CO with 26 vol% hydrogen. It was reported that the
stat concentrator), methanol production and gasification subsystems. same gasification process can be operated using concentrated solar
The endothermic reactions of the fossil fuel gasification were driven by energy supplied from solar collectors. The preliminary assessments of
the concentrated solar thermal energy of the heliostat in a range of the processes performed for a commercial prototype demonstrated that
1000–1500 K, where a syngas from the biomass gasification was used to gasification of biomass particles, dispersed in a molten salt phase and
produce methanol through a synthesis reactor. Results indicated the heated by a solar energy is a feasible and promising option for clean
syngas produced by the solar driven gasification has higher H2/CO production of synthesis gas.
(1.43–1.89) molar ratio which satisfies the requirement for methanol
synthesis. Moreover, the produced syngas has better chemical energy 4.4. Solar assisted distillation
quality than the conventional gasification technologies. The energy
efficiency of the system was found to be 56.9% which makes it a pro- The initial concentration of ethanol achieved by fermentation is
mising approach for the efficient utilization of the abundant solar and approximately 7–10% v/v (volume/volume), whereas the initial con-
biomass resources. centration required for use as fuel should be higher than 99.5% v/v
A novel tri-generation system coupled with biomass gasification and [95]. For this reason, solar distillation can be applied to get the ethanol
solar thermal system was investigated by Li et al. [85]. It comprised concentration required for achieving the standards. Solar distillation is
biomass gasification, a steam generation subsystem made of parabolic relatively matured technology used to increase ethanol concentrations
trough solar collector and an internal combustion engine subsystem. to appreciable level. Vorayos et al. [96] performed analysis of solar
Ground biomass was preheated at 200 °C then fed into the gasifier. ethanol distillation using flat plate and evacuated heat pipe solar col-
Steam at 350 °C, generated from the solar collector was fed into the lectors to generate sufficient heat for ethanol distillation. Accordingly,
gasifier with biomass. After removing the ash, char and certain pur- 4 m2 evacuated pipe solar collector was able to concentrate solar heat to
ification processes the gas was fed to internal combustion engine for enhance the ethanol concentration from 10% to 80% (v/v) using solar
electricity generation. In this study, the efficiency of this system was distillation process. Similarly, Jareanjit et al. [97] performed solar
determined to be 19.2%, but introduction of the solar collector reduced distillation experiment to manage ethanol waste from solar distillation
the excess consumption of the biomass and improved the efficiency to process. The system consisted of three solar distillation stages operated
29%. in a batch, each contributing to reduce the amount of feed materials
Feasibility of solar steam supplied biomass gasification was de- (cassava broth) in the system and increased the ethanol concentration
monstrated by Ravaghi-Ardebili and Manenti [86] and Manenti et al. from 8% to 80% (v/v).
[87]. The study was aimed at storing concentrated solar energy gen-
erated from parabolic troughs for the purpose of steam production to 5. Conclusion
accomplish biomass gasification. The parabolic trough was modelled
and simulated to generate steam (approximately 400–410 °C) and Biomass thermochemical processing requires heat which is typically
supplied to produce syngas consisting of H2 (24.1%), CO (34.2%), CO2 supplied either by combusting part of the biomass or heat from non-
(33.8%) and CH4 (7.7%). The syngas was further converted to me- renewable energy sources, such as combustion of fossil fuels or using
thanol/dimethyl ether by means of one-step synthesis process. electricity from the grid. This, in turn, decreases the efficiency of the
Solar energy can be stored in chemicals. Hydrogen production conversion process by about 35% and challenges the sustainability of
driven by solar chemical reaction is one of the ways to store solar en- the biofuel production. Thus, it is important to develop an alternative,
ergy. Liao and Guo [88] developed solar receiver integrated with dish clean and environmentally friendly source of energy for production of
concentrator for gasification of ethylene glycol, ethanol, glycerine and biofuels. This paper reviewed the current state of research for the use of
glucose in supercritical water. Series of outdoor experiments were solar technologies for biomass processing and conversion to biofuels.
conducted at 500–600 °C (supercritical water state) and solar power Parabolic dish has the highest capture of solar energy with optical ef-
input ranging from 3.1 to 7.2 kW. At 600 °C H2, CH4 and CO2; at 41.2%, ficiency reaching 94% followed by parabolic trough. The solar para-
15.1% and 34.7% were the generated gases respectively. The gasifica- bolic dish, if integrated with the appropriate receiver/reactor systems,
tion efficiency was observed to increase from 48.5% to 105.8% fol- selective coatings and reflective structures, can supply the required heat
lowing the radiation increase from 3.1 to 7.2 kW. for thermochemical processing of biomass. The paper also reviews the
Maag and Steinfeld [89] and Yadav and Banerjee [90] investigated solar assisted pyrolysis, gasification and distillation researches per-
solar to chemical conversion efficiencies of carbonaceous feedstock. For formed to date. Solar assisted pyrolysis was applied to different types of
an optimized reactor geometry and a desired outlet temperature of biomass fuels to produce 1.43–63% of bio-gas, 28–77.64% of bio-oils
1500 K, the solar to chemical conversion efficiency was 37% for 1500 and 21–62% of biochar. The heating rate and the final temperature
suns solar concentration. were identified as the most important parameters which defined the
Pilot scale solar biomass gasification was demonstrated at the distribution of the biofuel fractions. The solar assisted biomass gasifi-
University of Colorado Boulder and Sundrop Fuels [91]. The demon- cation process has been used to produce several high value fuels, such
stration was conducted in tubular solar reactors which can operate at as hydrogen rich fuel gas and methane at concentrations ranging from

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H. Weldekidan et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 88 (2018) 184–192

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