Title:
Characteristics of Biomass and Ashes from Two Industrial Thermoelectric Plants
Author(s):
Silva, D.F.R., Tarelho, L.A.C., Silva, J.J.F., Freire, M.S.M., Lopes, M.H.S.D.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
In Portugal, several industrial sectors, such as sawmill, furniture, pulp and paper and cork, are the major consumers of forest biomass. Some of these industries already use biomass residues from the industrial processes of production and from operations of the maintenance of the forest, to produce heat and power. The combustion of these residues gives rise to the production of considerable amounts of ashes. The characteristics of these ashes are influenced by the biomass properties, energy conversion technology and operating conditions. With the objective of characterizing the biomass and the ashes (bottom and fly) from two industrial thermoelectric plants, equipped with bubbling fluidized bed combustion technology, a sampling plan was carried over one year. The biomass and ash samples were collected at regular intervals over one year in order to analyze the variation of their chemical properties, namely the major and minor chemical composition, the proximate and ultimate analysis of the biomass. The results show that the biomass characteristics vary between thermoelectric plants and over the year. The two ash flows (fly and bottom ashes) from each industry show heavy metal concentrations below Portuguese legislation requirements for application to the soil. It was established a relation between the chemical characteristics of ash and the forest biomass that was burned on each installation. Considering the characteristics of distinct flows of ashes in the thermoelectric plants, several opportunities of material valorization of these ashes were identified based on this work results, such as the ash application to the soil.
Keywords:
biomass, thermochemical conversion, ashes, management, chemical composition
Topic:
R&D on Biomass Conversion Technologies for Heating, Electricity and Chemicals
Subtopic:
Solid biofuel combustion for large utility
Event:
20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
2CV.4.39
Pages:
1369 - 1374
ISBN:
978-88-89407-54-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/20thEUBCE2012-2CV.4.39
Price:
FREE
