The
aim of this study was to determine the operating parameters
of bioethanol burners used in the so-called bioethanol fireplaces,
mainly in terms of their actual heat output. The method used to determine
the actual heat output was designed considering procedures from the
standard EN 16647 fireplaces for liquid fuel. Experiments were carried
out on eight different types of burners with two different types of
fuels. The measurements demonstrated a difference of up to 19% in
the maximal heat output among individual fuels and a difference of
up to 16% in the average heat output when comparing identical burners
over approximately 60 min of operation. The average heat outputs of
the burners during the measurements reached approximately 41–62%
of the heat output declared by the manufacturers. The measured values
were used to create graphs of the dependency of the burner opening
size on its average heat output based on the fuel type. Two-chambered
burners reached a higher average heat output than single-chambered
burners with the same burner opening area of above ∼6000 mm2. The positions of the regulation damper (75 and 50%) increased
the burning time by 21 and 86%, respectively.
This study is aimed at the possibility of the fallen (waste) beech leaves usage as material for briquettes production. The main purpose of beech leaves briquetting in this study is the possibility of using it in small home combustion units, as partial substitute of wood. From the briquetting point of view, it is necessary to dry the leaves to approximately 15% of water content (it takes more than a month by free (natural) drying in an approximately 10 cm high layer inside a heated room). Beech leaves briquetting by automatic press is an easy process, but with diverse lengths of briquettes at the output (2-20 cm). Proximate and ultimate analyses of collected beech leaves were done. A briquette sample was subjected to thermogravimetric analysis, which shows the temperature ranges of drying and hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin decomposition. The determined temperature ranges correspond to those from other literature sources. Combustion tests proved the possibility of beech leaves briquettes usage as fuel in a small combustion unit. All limit values of the actual European standard EN 13240:2001 were met and some limit values of future European Standard Commission regulation (EU) 2015/1185 were met as well. Results of energy efficiency and mass concentrations of pollutants in the flue gas will differ with different stove and different stove settings. Due to the properties of the beech leaves briquettes (high mass fraction of ash and fast disintegration on the grate during the combustion process), it is appropriate, especially for long term use, to combine this kind of fuel with a conventional one.
There are several published studies evaluating the possibilities of thermal and non-thermal utilization of pistachio hard shells in many technical sectors; however, there are no relevant data about the possibilities of usage of this homogenous biomass-based by-product as a fuel for automatic household heating appliances for partial or full substitution of standard ENplus A1 pellets, which is the aim of the presented study. The composition and basic properties of both fuels were compared as well as the flue gas composition formed during the 6 different fuel mixture combustion in two real-scale pellet burners. The mass concentration of observed pollutants (CO, total suspended particles, and C3H8) in the flue gas was strongly affected by increasing of pistachio shell mass fraction in the fuel mixture (from 10 to 100%). In comparison to the combustion of ENplus A1 pellets, CO was increased up to 25.9 times, total suspended particles up to 15.3 times, and C3H8 up to 13.7 times. Based on the results of real combustion tests, the equations were listed, describing the increase of the mass concentration of pollutants for the whole spectrum of pellets/pistachio shell ratios applied on the chosen designs of the pellet burners. The Pt-based oxidation honeycomb catalyst, additionally installed at the combustion unit outlets for flue gas purification, showed conversion rates up to 82.2% in the case of CO and up to 33.1% in the case of C3H8. This enables the reaching of the same or lower mass concentrations of mentioned pollutants in the flue gas, formed during the co-combustion of appropriately selected fuel ratios in comparison to ENplus A1 pellet combustion without the catalyst.
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