The Almond Conference

Now in its 46th year and as the largest event for almond industry professionals in the world, The Almond Conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect with the people, the science, the products, and the trends at the forefront of the global almond community.

Dr Ning Sun, a research scientist at ABPDU, is an invited speaker at this conference. Her presentation is entitled “Almond Shells Torrefaction Evaluation and Conversion of Shells/Hulls to Sugars.”

Abstract

This study established a techno-economic model to evaluate the almond shell torrefaction process at commercial relevant scale in California. The techno-economic analysis (TEA) was performed using the SuperPro Designer software, and adopted preliminary data from USDA and Almond Board of California. Sensitivity analysis such as plant size and minimum selling price were performed to understand different scenarios. We also analyzed major chemical compositions of almond shells and hulls, and converted them to sugars through hot water pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. The conversion data showed promising results to upgrade almond hulls and shells to bioproducts.