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Pavleta Knutsson

Associate Professor, Energy and Materials · Chalmers University of Technology

Pavleta
Knutsson

How materials survive, and can be made to help, in the hottest and harshest parts of energy conversion: from the ash layers that grow on bed particles to the bed materials that make biomass gasification work.

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Portrait of Pavleta Knutsson.
Pavleta Knutsson
publications
62
publications
citations
1,697
citations
h-index
23
h-index
years of research
-38
years of research

Source: OpenAlex, updated 5 October 2026. More on impact →

Research

Four themes, one question: how do materials behave in hot, aggressive places?

  1. 01

    High-temperature corrosion and ash

    When biomass or waste is burned or gasified, the ash releases alkali compounds such as Na2SO4, KCl and KOH.

    30 papers

  2. 02

    Bed materials and oxygen carriers

    In a fluidized-bed boiler or gasifier, a hot, sand-like bed carries fuel and heat.

    47 papers

  3. 03

    Metal–oxide interfaces and coatings

    A protective oxide scale is only as good as its grip on the metal underneath.

    5 papers

  4. 04

    Porous carbons and CO2 capture

    The newest direction turns residues into useful materials.

    5 papers

Key findings

What the work has shown

01

Bed materials and oxygen carriers

A route for turning existing boilers into biomass gasifiers

Ten years of operating the 2–4 MW Chalmers research gasifier and the 20 MW GoBiGas biomethane plant, distilled into a route to commercial use. Two findings carry it: constituents of the biomass ash itself act as a catalyst for the process, and with coated heat exchangers ordinary fluidized-bed boilers can be retrofitted into gasifiers. The paper estimates that Sweden's existing fluidized-bed boilers alone correspond to a jet-fuel capacity of about 10% of current global consumption.

Energy Science & Engineering (2018) · 179 citations

02

High-temperature corrosion and ash · Bed materials and oxygen carriers

Ilmenite draws potassium into its core

Up to 40 wt% of the sand in Chalmers' 12 MW boiler was replaced by the natural ore ilmenite. Iron moved to the particle surfaces, titanium concentrated in the core, the ash formed a calcium-rich double layer, and potassium diffused into the core to form KTi8O16. Locking potassium inside the particle could reduce both bed agglomeration and corrosion.

Energy & Fuels (2014) · 103 citations

03

High-temperature corrosion and ash · Bed materials and oxygen carriers

How biomass ash migrates into, and grows on, an oxygen carrier

Ilmenite samples taken from the 12 MW boiler after 5 to more than 300 hours of oxygen-carrier-aided combustion show potassium migrating into the particle core over time, and a calcium layer forming at longer times while calcium also moves inward. Combined with thermodynamic calculations, the paper proposes a mechanism for the ash–bed material interaction.

Energy & Fuels (2018) · 75 citations

Selected publications

Representative work

Article

2025

62 citations

Tailoring highly surface and microporous activated carbons (ACs) from biomass via KOH, K₂C₂O₄ and KOH/K2C2O4 activation for efficient CO₂ capture and CO2/N2 selectivity: characterization, experimental and molecular simulation insights

B. Dziejarski, J. Serafin, D. F. Hernández-Barreto, E. Naumovska, J. Sreńscek-Nazzal, N. Klomkliang, E. Tam, R. Krzyżyńska, K. Andersson, P. Knutsson

Chemical Engineering Journal 524, 169677 (2025)

High-temperature corrosion and ash · Porous carbons and CO2 capture

DOIOpen access

Feature

Why materials fail in hot, dirty places

From a boiler tube to a grain of ilmenite: a short tour of what heat, ash and alkali do to materials, and how understanding it makes biomass energy work.

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News

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Thesis projects, PhD and postdoc positions, industry partnerships.

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