Experimental determination of a mass loss of biomass pellets at different temperatures of the combustion chamber combusted in a stream of inert material

Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, Institute of Thermal Machinery, Poland

^* Corresponding author: kgajewska@imc.pcz.pl

Abstract

In the herein paper, research on the mass loss of biomass pellets is presented. The research was carried out on a specially constructed test stand. In the research three types of pellet fuels were used, which were made of oak sawdust, sunflower husk and straw. The research was carried out at three different temperatures of the combustion chamber: 850°C, 750°C and 650°C. The research was carried out without inert material and mass rate flow Gs=2,5kg/m²s and Gs=5kg/m²s. Quartz sand was the inert material. It was expected that an increase in the temperature prevailing in the combustion chamber would accelerate the process of mass loss of the biomass pellet combustion. However, the results of the experiment indicated that this is not the case in every analyzed case. The mass flow rate of inert material intensifies the combustion process and accelerates the biomass pellets made of oak sawdust mass loss, but increasing the temperature in the combustion chamber accelerates the process of biomass pellets mass loss more than the mass flow rate of inert material. Based on the experimental tests carried out, it was found that biomass can be combusted in circulating fluidized bed boilers, albeit due to the diversified chemical composition of the biomass (alkali content), the boiler should be operated in such a way as to prevent the softening and melting temperature of the ash being exceeded.