Evaluation of date palm residues combustion in fixed bed laboratory reactor: A comparison with sawdust behaviour

Abstract

Combustion tests of five date palm Tunisian residues, namely: Date Palm Leaflets (DPL), Date Palm Rachis (DPR), Date Palm Trunk (DPT), Date Stones (DS) and Fruit-stalk Prunings (FP), were performed in a laboratory scale furnace. Gaseous emissions such as CO2, CO, VOC, NOx and SO2, were analysed at 600 °C under 30–60 NL/h flow rate. Obtained results were compared with sawdust combustion behaviour in order to select the most convenient biofuel for an application in domestic boiler installations.Combustion tests show that ignition delay and combustion time reaction are independent of the date palm residue. However, gaseous products emission rates and factors are correlated to the sample characteristics such as carbon, nitrogen and sulphur contents as well as fixed carbon and volatile matters contents. In order to optimize date palm residues combustion by decreasing unburnt gaseous emissions, special attention should be given to the design of the secondary air supply.