Applying Conventional Combustion Science and Technology to Alternative Energy Resources in Industrial Systems

Abstract

Life is hinged on energy and a good and sustainable source is the penultimate desire of all nations. Now faced with the impending decline in the oil reserves, attempts have been and are being made to control the use. Yet beyond all the control strategies, the time approaches when the world supply will become inadequate. The very high rate of regeneration of grasses, weeds and leaves shows that it will be environmentally friendly to use as fuel, for the carbon dioxide that will be released when they are burnt will be required for their regeneration. In this study, attention is focused on designing a burner to combust these materials in an industrial setting. The result shows that the temperature profile for pulverized lower grade biomass fuel rises slowly and tends to stabilize at 438˚C. It was also discovered that the cost of a heating process can be drastically reduced as it costs $8 when using the cooking gas and $4.66 when using the mixture of the new fuel and cooking gas. Thus by using this new fuel or a mixture of it, not only will the cost of heating processes be reduced, but also the life of the existing known conventional resources will be prolonged.