Abstract
Torrefaction could improve the fuel properties and reduce the operating costs. However, the particulate matter (PM) emission behavior during the torrefied pellet combustion remains unknown. In this work, cotton stalk was torrefied at a temperature of 220–300 °C with a O2 concentration of 0–21%. The torrefied pellet was burned out and PM emission behavior was investigated using a Dekati low-pressure impactor. The results show that oxidative torrefaction leads to notable decreases of H/C and O/C ratios, which makes the fuel properties similar to coals. The heating value is significantly improved and sensitive to the torrefaction temperature. Both non-oxidative and oxidative torrefaction give rise to considerable increase in the yield of PM10. The main composition of PM1 changed from KCl to K2SO4 due to the substantial release of Cl during torrefaction. Meanwhile, Ca and K contents in PM1-10 are generally high, implying that the presence of oxygen can facilitate the transformation of alkali and alkaline-earth metals into coarse particles. The torrefaction temperature at around 260 °C with a low O2 concentration of 0–6% are the optimal torrefaction operation conditions to produce good quality torrefied cotton stalk pellet with respect to high heating value and low PM emission in later combustion application.
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