Title:
Combustion Tests of Reed Pellets
Author(s):
Link, S., Kask, U., Krail, J., Plank, H.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
Common reed (Phragmites australis, hereafter referred to as reed) is one of the most widely distributed plant species on Earth. Among vascular plants, reed is a dominant plant in European land-water ecotones. Combustion of dried reeds has been investigated, for instance, in Sweden and Austria. Though naturally dried reed could be burnt in boiler without any additional drying, a disadvantage is that reed is very bulky and unsuitable for small-scale boilers without pelletizing. This work presents our initial results of combustion tests with reed pellets in a 80 kW wood pellet boiler with moving grate furnace. Reed pellets from Finland were used and two tests were performed. The aim of this study is to determine combustion characteristics of reed pellets and to observe how the reed pellets behave in the furnace designed for burning of wood pellets. It was found that the wood pellets fired furnace with a moving grate is generally suitable for burning of some type of reed pellets with modifications in control parameters (adjusting of the air-fuel rate and the interval of grate moving, a device for pressing burnt fuel heap etc.). However, the drawback lies in the decrease in load and modifications in furnace/grate design are needed to increase residence time for complete combustion.
Keywords:
combustion, pellet, reed
Topic:
Biomass Conversion Technologies for Heating, Cooling and Electricity
Subtopic:
Biomass and bioliquids combustion for small and medium scale applications
Event:
23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
2BV.2.17
Pages:
697 - 701
ISBN:
978-88-89407-516
Paper DOI:
10.5071/23rdEUBCE2015-2BV.2.17
Price:
FREE
