STUDY OF THERMAL ENERGY OF ALTERNATIVE SOLID FUELS

In this paper, solid fuels made of plant biomass or its blends with plastic additive were studied as an alternative to fossil coals. For this purpose, experimental and calculation methods were applied to determine the higher (HHV_i) and lower (LHV_i) heating values of individual components of plant biomass (lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses, extractives, etc.), as well as of some components of plastics. The experiments were carried out using an oxygen bomb calorimeter, whereas calculations were performed by the equations: HHV_i (kJ/g) = E_o M^-1(x + 0,295y - 0,42z) and LHV_i (kJ/g) = E_o M^-1(x + 0,242y - 0,42z); where E_o = 413 kJ/mol, x, y and z is number of atoms C, H and O, respectively, in molecule of organic substance or in repeat unit of polymer having molecular mass M. Using the results obtained for individual components, the calorific values of various biomasses and their blends with plastic additives were found according to additivity rule, as follows: HHV = Σ(w_i HHV_i) and LHV = Σ(w_i LVH_i ), where w_i is weight part of the component in the biomass sample. The results revealed that calculated calorific values for the solid fuels were close to experimentally obtained values. The obtained data evidence on adequacy of the additivity rule to evaluate the thermal energy of solid fuels based on biomass. It has been also found that fuel pellets consisting of plant biomass and plastic additive are the most promising solid fuels, since they provide a higher calorific value and increased energy density than the biomass only.

plant biomass, plastic, fuel pellets, cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, extractives, calorific values, calorimetry, calculation

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