Modelling of biomass combustion in an underfeed stoker

• Main Author: Lim, Gilbert O.
• Published: University of Portsmouth 2008
• Subjects: 662.65
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.488724

Environmental and economic consequences of the use of fossil fuels instigated the promotion of renewable energy. At present, biomass remains one of the most competitive renewable form of energy. Underfeed stoker is one of the simplest thermal processing equipment for biomass; however, research on this area of study has been very limited. The objectives of the research work were 1) to investigate deficiencies in model data, 2) to measure the combustion characteristics of wood chips of different sizes and moisture content using a batch type packed bed reactor under various air to fuel ratio. 3) to investigate fuel substitution by solid biomass using a case study developed for the University of Portsmouth Asia Link Programme, 4) to compare the performance of an overfeed and underfeed combustion system burning biomass in terms of emissions, 5) to gather experimental data using thermogravometric analysis for the validation of a FG-Biomass pyrolysis sub-model, 6) to construct a model which can predict burnout rates and hence combustion rate in a packed bed of wood chips in an underfeed stoker and to perform model validation using the data gathered from the experiments conducted by Santos (2002).