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Thermogravimetric analysis of co-combustion of biomass and biochar

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Abstract

The co-combustion of biomass and biochar was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Several thermal parameters and mean reactivity index (R M) for different blends were used to evaluate co-combustion features. As the biomass content increased from 30 to 90 mass%, volatile releasing temperature (T v), burnout temperature (T b), and the temperature at the maximal peak (T max) generally reduced, while average mass loss rates (R a) and R M increased, the maximum mass loss rate (R max) initially decreased and then increased. Results showed that biochar additions enhanced biomass fuel reactivity over weighted average in main combustion region. Besides, blends with 10–30 mass% of biochar behaved better than those with higher biochar ratio. Synergy exists between the two components and better combustibility is feasible by co-firing biochar with biomass.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20876066) and Hubei Province Scientific and Technological Project (No. 2007AA204B01). The authors are grateful to the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology for carrying out the ultimate analysis and the thermogravimetric analysis of the samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Qiguo Yi, Fangjie Qi, Gong Cheng, Yongguang Zhang, Bo Xiao, Zhiquan Hu, Shiming Liu, Haiyan Cai & Shan Xu

  2. Department of Information Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology Huaxia College, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Qiguo Yi

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  1. Qiguo Yi
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  2. Fangjie Qi
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  4. Yongguang Zhang
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  5. Bo Xiao
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  9. Shan Xu
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Correspondence to Shiming Liu.

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Yi, Q., Qi, F., Cheng, G. et al. Thermogravimetric analysis of co-combustion of biomass and biochar. J Therm Anal Calorim 112, 1475–1479 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2744-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2744-1

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