Thermogravimetric studies of the behavior of wheat straw with added coal during combustion

The combustion behavior of biomass and biomass-coal blends under typical heating conditions was investigated. Thermogravimetric analyses were performed on bituminite coal, aspen strawdust and wheat straw used alone and blended with different coal weight ratios. The behavior of biomass fuels in the burning process (different rates of volatilization, char burning and heat production) was analyzed, and the effects of a cold molding procedure for wheat straw on the burning properties were investigated. in addition, the kinetic parameters for the thermal conversion of each fuel were determined. Cold molding led to easier firing, and 5% coal was identified as the ideal ratio to achieve similar heat release characteristics to strawdust. Such a mixed pellet fuel with burning characteristics similar to aspen wood can be produced to take advantage of the wide design basis for wood-fired boilers. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.