A Thermogravimetric Study of the Behaviour of Biomass Blends During Combustion

Abstract

The ignition and combustion behavior of biomass and biomass blends under typical heating conditions were investigated. Thermogravimetric analyses were performed on stalk and woody biomass, alone and blended with various additive weight ratios. The combustion process was enhanced by adding oxygen to the primary air. This led to shorter devolatilization/pyrolysis and char burnout stages, which both took place at lower temperatures than in air alone. The results of the ignition study of stalk biomass show a decrease in ignition temperature as the particle size decreases. This indicates homogeneous ignition, where the volatiles burn in the gas phase, preventing oxygen from reaching the particle surface.The behavior of biomass fuels in the burning process was analyzed, and the effects of heat production and additive type were investigated. Mixing with additives is a method for modifying biofuel and obtaining a more continuous heat release process. Differential scanning calorimetric-thermogravimetric (DSC-TGA) analysis revealed that when the additive is added to biomass, the volatilization rate is modified, the heat release is affected, and the combustion residue is reduced at the same final combustion temperature.

Keywords

• straw
• lignin
• peat
• charcoal
• combustion behavior
• biomass blends
• thermogravimetry