Title:
Biofuels from Agriculture Residues - Opportunities and Challenges: the Example of Pellets Produced from Horse Manure
Author(s):
Vincent, L., Rübesamen, D., Fischer, J., Ziegler, M.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
Using agricultural residues as biomass fuels becomes more and more interesting. However the chemical properties and consequently, the combustion and emission behavior of these energy carriers differ from conventional wood fuels. Based on horse manure as an example, the research work was focused on two problems: Is it possible to pelletize dried horse manure so that the pellets produced comply with the existing European standard EN ISO 17225-6 ? What kind of emissions at which level will be produced if these pellets are incinerated in a commercial biomass boiler, do the emissions comply with the existing emission regulations? To answer these questions, horse manure collected from different locations in Thuringia was first dried in a low temperature process and then pelletized in a small scale pellet press (approx. 20kg/h capacity). The properties of the pellets with regard to water content, density, ash content and heating value were examined. Most of these parameters were well in the range given by the European standard, however, the high ash content (up to 13%) imposed a challenge. The incineration test took place in a commercially available 30 kW biomass boiler. During these tests, gaseous emissions as CO, NOx, SO2 and CxHy as well as particle content in the flue gas were measured. Surprisingly, the high nitrogen content of the raw horse dung did not lead to high NOx emissions. Further investigation showed that most of the nitrogen was transferred to the condensate during the drying process. Furthermore, the results showed that the gaseous emissions were well in the range of the exiting German emission regulations for small scale biomass boilers. However, the emissions of particles, due to the high ash content of the raw material, were well above the given 20mg/m3 limit. The results show that pellets from biogenic residues may show a good performance in small scale combustion processes. However, they demand for further preprocessing if the thresholds of the actual emission legislation have to be attained.
Keywords:
agricultural residues, biofuels, emissions, pellets
Topic:
Biomass Resources
Subtopic:
Biomass potentials and biomass mobilisation
Event:
24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
1BV.4.14
Pages:
189 - 193
ISBN:
978-88-89407-165
Paper DOI:
10.5071/24thEUBCE2016-1BV.4.14
Price:
FREE
