Abstract
Biomass is a solid fuel that can be used instead of coal to address the issue of greenhouse gases. Currently, biomass is used directly in combustion or via co-combustion in coal-fired power plants. However, its use is limited due to calorific value and ash problems. In this study, wet torrefaction (WT) was carried out at various temperatures (160 °C, 180 °C, and 200 °C) and the properties of the product were evaluated. In comparison to dry torrefaction, the ash contained in biomass was extracted by an acidic solution (i.e., acetic acid) from the overreaction of the biomass. From examining the ash content of the treated WT, it was confirmed that K2O of basic ash was mainly extracted. In particular, in the case of K2O, since the main cause of combustion problems are issues such as fouling and slagging, the removed WT can be stably combusted in the boiler. Finally, the combustion and emission behaviors were evaluated by TGA-DTG and TGA-FTIR. As the fuel-N was decreased in the WT proess, the NOx in the emission gas after combustion was lower than that of raw miscanthus, and SO2 showed a similar value. As a result, it was confirmed that the WT sample is an advanced fuel in terms of fuel upgrading, alkali minerals, and NOx emission compared to raw miscanthus.
Highlights
Coal has been a major source of electricity for many decades
In the wet torrefaction operating conditions of this study, the residence time was fixed at 1 h at the target temperature, and the product characteristics were analyzed according to the reaction temperatures of 160, 180, and 200 ◦ C
The calorific value (Low Heating Value, LHV) of the wet torrefaction (WT) samples increased by about 2.8–4 MJ/kg compared to the untreated raw miscanthus (RM)
Summary
Coal has been a major source of electricity for many decades. as air pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and particulate matter (PM), which are generated from coal burning, have become a social issue, the proportion of coal is gradually decreasing [1,2]. Portfolio Standard (RPS) has been used since 2012, and plants with more than 500 MW of power are required to cover a certain percentage of the output with renewable energy. In Korea, there has been considerable investment in renewable energy, such as solar, wind power, and biomass, and among them, the use of biomass such as wood pellets is mainly utilized [3,4,5]. As biomass grows, it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere. Of the absorbed CO2 , carbon remains in the biomass, and only the
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