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Pellets Evaluation Made from Tropical-Climate Agricultural and Forestry Crops of Costa Rica with a Domestic Stove

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Abstract

Propose

The present study shows the results of the evaluation of the pellets made from two forestry crops and eight agricultural crops in Costa Rica by employing a 50 kW domestic stove.

Methods

The following variables were evaluated: flame outlet and flue gas temperatures and emissions (CO2, CO, NO, NO2, NOx and SO2).

Results

It was found that the pellet consumption varies from 2.5 to 3.4 kg/h, where the former corresponds to Tectona grandis and the latter to the mesocarp oil palm fruit. Flame outlet temperature varied from 400 to 623 °C and flue gas temperature varied from 205 to 322 °C, where the lowest temperature corresponds to Phyllostachys aurea and the highest to the oil palm residue. T. grandis showed the highest variation in temperature, while Cupressus lusitanica showed the lowest variation. A result that stands out in the measurement of emissions is that the two forestry crops show the lowest values.

Conclusions

Different type of pellet produces different behaviour in domestic stove. Gynerium sagittatum and C. lusitanica were with greater heat generation and Pennisetum purpureum and T. grandis with the lowest heat generation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the support of the Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Extensión of Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, and to all the companies who contribute the materials for pellet manufacturing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago, P.O. Box 159-7050, Costa Rica

    Roger Moya, Ana Rodríguez-Zúñiga & Carolina Tenorio

  2. Laboratorio de Química Atmosférica, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica

    Juan Valdez

  3. Agrep Forestal S. A., San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica

    Jorre Valaert

Authors
  1. Roger Moya
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  2. Ana Rodríguez-Zúñiga
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  3. Carolina Tenorio
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  4. Juan Valdez
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  5. Jorre Valaert
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Correspondence to Roger Moya.

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Moya, R., Rodríguez-Zúñiga, A., Tenorio, C. et al. Pellets Evaluation Made from Tropical-Climate Agricultural and Forestry Crops of Costa Rica with a Domestic Stove. Waste Biomass Valor 6, 1037–1046 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-015-9420-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-015-9420-1

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