Biomass is an especially reactive fuel. There have been large increases in the transportation and utilization of biomass fuels over the past 10 years and this has raised concerns over its safe handling and utilization. Fires, and sometimes explosions, are a risk during all stages of fuel production as well as during the handling and utilization of the product. This paper presents a method for assessing ignition risk and provides a ranking of relative risk of ignition of biomass fuels. Tests involved single particle measurements, thermal analysis, dust layer and basket ignition tests. In all cases, smouldering combustion was observed, whereby the fuels pyrolyse to produce a black char, which then subsequently ignites. Low temperature pyrolysis kinetics have been utilised to predict ignition delay times at low temperatures. A method for evaluating risk was explored based on the activation energy for pyrolysis and a characteristic temperature from {TGA} analysis. Here, olive cake, sunflower husk and Miscanthus fall into the high risk category, while the woods, plane, pine, mesquite and red berry juniper, fall into the medium risk category. This method is able to capture the impact of low activation energy for pyrolysis on the increased risk of ignition

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract:The firing and co-firing of biomass in pulverized coal fired power plants around the world is expected to increase in the coming years. Torrefaction may prove to be a suitable way of upgrading biomass for such an application. For transport and storage purposes, the torrefied biomass will tend to be in pellet form. Whilst standard methods for the assessment of the milling characteristics of coal exist, this is not the case for torrefied materials-whether in pellet form or not. The grindability of the fuel directly impacts the overall efficiency of the combustion process and as such it is an important parameter. In the present study, the grindability of different torrefied biomass pellets was tested in three different laboratory mill types; cutting mill (CM), hammer mill (HM) and impact mill (IM). The specific grinding energy (SGE) required for a defined mass throughput of pellets in each mill was measured and results were compared to other pellet characterization methods (e.g., durability, and hardness) as well as the modified Hardgrove Index. Seven different torrefied biomass pellets including willow, pine, beech, poplar, spruce, forest residue and straw were used as feedstock. On average, the particle-size distribution width (across all feedstock) was narrowest for the IM (0.41 mm), followed by the HM (0.51 mm) and widest for the CM (0.62 mm). Regarding the SGE, the IM consumed on average 8.23 Wh/kg while CM and HM consumed 5.15 and 5.24 Wh/kg, respectively. From the three mills compared in this study, the IM seems better fit for being used in a standardized method that could be developed in the future, e.g., as an ISO standard.

No abstract