Abstract
Biomass combustion or co-firing in modern coal power plants for steam/power generation is a carbon–neutral process, but it could pose acidic air pollutants and ash-related challenges like slagging and fouling. This paper aimed to evaluate the energetic potential of six special crop husk residues (i.e., chestnut husk, coffee bean husk, cocoa pod husk, coconut shell, peanut husk, and water caltrop husk) through their thermochemical characterization and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) study. The thermochemical characterization included the proximate analysis, ultimate (elemental) analysis, calorific value (higher heating value, HHV), and elemental compositions of ash. The results showed that these residues have the potential for the biomass feedstocks in the boilers due to the large carbon contents (43.81–49.27 mass%), low ash contents (e.g., 0.27 mass% for coffee bean husk), and high HHVs (18.65–21.26 MJ kg−1). The HHVs were higher for the biomass husk residues with a low O/C ratio and low ash content. The chlorine, nitrogen, and sulfur contents, responsible for acidic air pollutants, were less than 1% except for chlorine in caltrop husk (1.59%). However, based on the relevant slagging/fouling indices using the data on the ash compounds and chlorine content, it was revealed that the ashes of chestnut husk, cocoa pod husk, and water caltrop husk had a high slagging tendency mainly due to the high contents of potassium and chlorine. In contrast, co-firing of biomass husks—coffee bean husk, peanut husk, and coconut shell, with coal could result in lower emissions of particulates, oxides of sulfur- and chlorine-bearing pollutants, and reduced slagging and fouling tendencies. In this regard, coconut shell is a very clean biomass fuel due to its excellent properties and large amounts.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included in the article. Besides, the datasets used and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Basu P. Biomass gasification, pyrolysis and torrefaction. 3rd ed. London: Academic Press; 2018.
Clauser NM, González G, Mendieta CM, Kruyeniski J, Area MC, Vallejos ME. Biomass waste as sustainable raw material for energy and fuels. Sustainability. 2021;13:794.
Huang K, Peng X, Kong L, Wu W, Chen Y, Maravelias CT. Greenhouse gas emission mitigation potential of chemicals produced from biomass. ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2021;9:14480–7.
de Jong W. Biomass composition, properties, and characterization. In: de Jong W, van Ommen JR, editors. Sustainable energy source for the future: fundamentals of conversion processes. 1st ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2015. p. 36–68.
Teixeira P, Lopes H, Gulyurtlu I, Lapa N, Abelha P. Slagging and fouling during coal and biomass cofiring: chemical equilibrium model applied to FBC. Energy Fuels. 2014;28:697–713.
Vassilev SV, Vassileva CG, Vassilev VS. Advantages and disadvantages of composition and properties of biomass in comparison with coal: an overview. Fuel. 2015;158:330–50.
Chen C, Bi Y, Huang Y, Huang H. Review on slagging evaluation methods of biomass fuel combustion. J Anal Appl Pyrolysis. 2021;135:105082.
Liu Q, Chmely SC, Abdoulmoumine N. Biomass treatment strategies for thermochemical conversion. Energy Fuels. 2017;31:3525–36.
Vassilev SV, Vassileva CG, Song YC, Li WY, Feng J. Ash contents and ash-forming elements of biomass and their significance for solid biofuel combustion. Fuel. 2017;208:377–409.
Lee YJ, Choi JW, Park JH, Namkung H, Song GS, Park SJ, Lee DW, Kim JG, Jeon CH, Choi YC. Techno-economical method for the removal of alkali metals from agricultural residue and herbaceous biomass and its effect on slagging and fouling behavior. ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2018;6:13056–65.
Schneider T, Müller D, Karl J. A review of thermochemical biomass conversion combined with Stirling engines for the small-scale cogeneration of heat and power. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2020;134:110288.
Fatehi H, Weng W, Li Z, Bai XS, Aldén M. Recent development in numerical simulations and experimental studies of biomass thermochemical conversion. Energy Fuels. 2021;35:6940–63.
Teixeira P, Lopes H, Gulyurtlu I, Lapa N, Abelha P. Evaluation of slagging and fouling tendency during biomass co-firing with coal in a fluidized bed. Biomass Bioenergy. 2012;39:192–203.
Niu Y, Zhu Y, Tan H, Hui S, Jing Z, Xu W. Investigations on biomass slagging in utility boiler: Criterion numbers and slagging growth mechanisms. Fuel Process Technol. 2014;128:499–508.
Zhu Y, Niu Y, Tan H, Wang X. Short review on the origin and countermeasure of biomass slagging in grate furnace. Front Environ Res. 2014;2:7.
Garcia-Maraver A, Mata-Sanchez J, Carpio M, Perez-Jimenez JA. Critical review of predictive coefficients for biomass ash deposition tendency. J Energy Inst. 2017;90:214–28.
Wen X, Xu Y, Wang J. Assessing slagging propensity of coal from their slagging indices. J Energy Inst. 2018;91:646–54.
Zhu C, Tu H, Bai Y, Ma D, Zhao Y. Evaluation of slagging and fouling characteristics during Zhundong coal co-firing with a Si/Al dominated low rank coal. Fuel. 2019;254:115730.
Chen C, Huang Y, Qin S, Huang D, Xiaoyan BuX, Huang H. Slagging tendency estimation of aquatic microalgae and comparison with terrestrial biomass and waste. Energy. 2020;194:116889.
Lachman J, Balas M, Lisy M, Lisa H, Milcak P, Elbl P. An overview of slagging and fouling indicators and their applicability to biomass fuels. Fuel Process Technol. 2021;217:106804.
Cioabla AE, Pop N, Calinoiu DG, Trif-Tordai G. An experimental approach to the chemical properties and the ash melting behavior in agricultural biomass. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2015;121:421–7.
Vassilev SV, Baxter D, Andersen LK, Vassileva CG. An overview of the chemical composition of biomass. Fuel. 2010;89:913–33.
Tsai WT, Jiang TJ, Tang MS, Chang CH, Kuo TH. Enhancement of thermochemical properties on rice husk under a wide range of torrefaction conditions. Biomass Convers Biorefin. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01945-5.
Fernandes IJ, Calheiro D, Kieling AG, Moraes CAM, Rocha TLAC, Brehm FA, Modolo RCE. Characterization of rice husk ash produced using different biomass combustion techniques for energy. Fuel. 2016;165:351–9.
Zinla D, Gbaha P, Koffi PME, Koua BK. Characterization of rice, coffee and cocoa crops residues as fuel of thermal power plant in Côte d’Ivoire. Fuel. 2021;283:119250.
Chen H, Wang W, Martin JC, Oliphant AJ, Doerr PA, Xu JF, DeBorn KM, Chen C, Sun L. Extraction of lignocellulose and synthesis of porous silica nanoparticles from rice husks: a comprehensive utilization of rice husk biomass. ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2013;1:254–9.
El-Sayed SA, Khairy M. Effect of heating rate on the chemical kinetics of different biomass pyrolysis materials. Biofuels. 2015;6:157–70.
Rodrigues ALP, Cruz G, Souza MEP, Gomes WC. Application of cassava harvest residues (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in biochemical and thermochemical conversion process for bioenergy purposes: a literature review. Afr J Biotechnol. 2018;17(3):37–50.
Cruz G, Crnkovic PM. Assessment of the physical–chemical properties of residues and emissions generated by biomass combustion under N2/O2 and CO2/O2 atmospheres in a drop tube furnace (DTF). J Therm Anal Calorim. 2019;138:401–15.
Cruz G, Rodrigues ALP, da Silva DF, Gomes WC. Physical–chemical characterization and thermal behavior of cassava harvest waste for application in thermochemical processes. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2021;143:3611–22.
Ozgen S, Cernuschi S, Caserini S. An overview of nitrogen oxides emissions from biomass combustion for domestic heat production. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2021;135:110113.
Krol D, Motyl P, Poskrobko S. Chlorine corrosion in a low-power boiler fired with agricultural biomass. Energies. 2022;15:382.
Safavi A, Richter C, Unnthorsson R. Dioxin formation in biomass gasification: a review. Energies. 2022;15:700.
Lu JJ, Chen WH. Investigation on the ignition and burnout temperatures of bamboo and sugarcane bagasse by thermogravimetric analysis. Appl Energy. 2015;60:49–57.
Wnorowska J, Ciukaj S, Kalisz S. Thermogravimetric analysis of solid biofuels with additive under air atmosphere. Energies. 2021;14:2257.
Surahmanto F, Saptoadi H, Sulistyo H, Rohmat TA. Effect of heating rate on the slow pyrolysis behaviour and its kinetic parameters of oil-palm shell. Int J Renew Energy Res. 2017;7:1138–44.
Radhakumari M, Prakash DJ, Satyavathi B. Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of algal biomass using tga analysis based on ICTAC recommendations. Biomass Conv Bioref. 2016;6:189–95.
Anca-Couce A, Tsekos C, Retschitzegger S, Zimbardi F, Funke A, Banks S, Kraia T, Marques P, Scharler R, de Jong W, Kienzl N. Biomass pyrolysis TGA assessment with an international round robin. Fuel. 2020;276:118002.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Instrument Centers of National Chung Hsing University and National Ching-Hwa University for the ultimate (C/H/N/S/O) analysis and the inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), respectively.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
W.T.T. initiated the work, designed the experiment, and drafted the manuscript. J.W.H. performed the experiment and analyzed the data. All authors read and approved the submitted manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Tsai, WT., Han, JW. Thermochemical characterization of husk biomass resources with relevance to energy use. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 8061–8069 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11551-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11551-w