Investigation of Heat Generation from Biomass Fuels

Abstract

New biomass fuels are constantly being developed from renewable resources in an effort to counter global warming and to create a sustainable society based on recycling. Among these, biomass fuels manufactured from waste are prone to microbial fermentation, and are likely to cause fires and explosions if safety measures, including sufficient risk assessments and long-term storage, are not considered. In this study, we conducted a series of experiments on several types of newly developed biomass fuels, using combinations of various thermal- and gas-analysers, to identify the risks related to heat- and gas-generation. Since a method for the evaluation of the relative risks of biomass fuels is not yet established in Japan, we also such a method based on our experimental results. The present study found that in cases where safety measures are not thoroughly observed, biomass fuels manufactured from waste materials have a higher possibility of combusting spontaneously at the storage site due to microbial fermentation and heat generation.

Keywords

• biomass fuels
• heat generation
• fermentation
• thermal and gas analysers
• risk evaluation method