Potential of Japanese cedar’s Bio-Coke as a sustainable solid fuel to replace coal coke

The unique features of bio-coke include higher density and mechanical strength than conventional solid biofuel such as pellet and briquette. These features underscore its potential application to substitute the usage of coal coke in a cupola furnace. However, to ensure its physical and mechanical performances, the optimization process prior to the bio-coke production and the knowledge of chemical structural transformation are essential. In this study, Japanese cedar (JC) bio-coke produced at the optimum condition via formation temperature (FT): 190 °C and initial moisture content (MC): 5 wt% has better physical and mechanical properties. The higher lignin content in JC biomass and the chemical transformation during bio-coke production, such as demethoxylation of lignin and increase in cellulose crystallinity, also influenced the improvement of JC’s structural performance in bio-coke. This suggests that utilizing JC biomass into bio-coke can be a possible strategy for reducing GHG emissions and having a lower production cost than other wood biomass.