Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment

Biomass combustion power generation has received significant attention as it is a carbon-neutral fuel. Countries with coal as the primary resources for power generation are adopting means of co-firing locally available biomass with coal to reduce carbon emissions. Depending upon the source of biomas...

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Main Authors: Sachin K. S, R.V. Ravikrishna, Pratikash Panda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Next Energy
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949821X24001376
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author Sachin K. S
R.V. Ravikrishna
Pratikash Panda
author_facet Sachin K. S
R.V. Ravikrishna
Pratikash Panda
author_sort Sachin K. S
collection DOAJ
description Biomass combustion power generation has received significant attention as it is a carbon-neutral fuel. Countries with coal as the primary resources for power generation are adopting means of co-firing locally available biomass with coal to reduce carbon emissions. Depending upon the source of biomass particles, there are unique challenges associated with the combustion of biomass particles. However, emissions of alkali metals, chlorine, and sulfur-based gases during biomass combustion poses serious challenges in terms of the operability of power plants. In this work experimental investigations have been carried out to study the effect of co-firing different blends of high-ash content coal with biomass on sodium (Na) emissions in oxyfuel and non-oxyfuel environments. Two types of biomass have been studied: beechwood, a woody type of biomass, and paddy straw, an agro-residue-based biomass. Experiments on pellets composed of different blends of biomass and high-ash content coal have been conducted in an environment maintained at approximately 1110 K and 30% O2/N2/H2O or 30% O2/CO2/H2O. Temporal emission of Na has been measured quantitatively using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique. The effect of blending high-ash content coal with biomass, along with the impact of an oxyfuel environment in reducing Na emissions has been studied. A profound reduction in emissions of Na was found by blending high-ash content coal with biomass. High ash content coal was more effective in reducing Na emissions from coal-beechwood blends when compared with coal-paddy straw blends. Additionally, replacing N2 with CO2 in the combustion environment further reduces Na emissions from the coal–biomass blend pellets. As the concentration of high ash coal increased in the blend, the effective reduction in Na emissions due to CO2 was observed to decrease. The effect of grain size used to make the fuel pellets of different blending ratios of paddy straw and high-ash content coal has also been explored. A finer grain size of paddy straw in the blend was more effective in reducing Na emissions. A mathematical model has been developed to identify the dependence of peak Na emission on different parameters during the combustion of coal–biomass blended pellets of different blending ratios of biomass and high-ash content coal.
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spelling doaj-art-54871ee95a784ee1a19e6d15f9d0e31f2025-08-20T02:29:11ZengElsevierNext Energy2949-821X2025-04-01710023210.1016/j.nxener.2024.100232Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environmentSachin K. S0R.V. Ravikrishna1Pratikash Panda2Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, IndiaInterdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, IndiaInterdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Corresponding author at: Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.Biomass combustion power generation has received significant attention as it is a carbon-neutral fuel. Countries with coal as the primary resources for power generation are adopting means of co-firing locally available biomass with coal to reduce carbon emissions. Depending upon the source of biomass particles, there are unique challenges associated with the combustion of biomass particles. However, emissions of alkali metals, chlorine, and sulfur-based gases during biomass combustion poses serious challenges in terms of the operability of power plants. In this work experimental investigations have been carried out to study the effect of co-firing different blends of high-ash content coal with biomass on sodium (Na) emissions in oxyfuel and non-oxyfuel environments. Two types of biomass have been studied: beechwood, a woody type of biomass, and paddy straw, an agro-residue-based biomass. Experiments on pellets composed of different blends of biomass and high-ash content coal have been conducted in an environment maintained at approximately 1110 K and 30% O2/N2/H2O or 30% O2/CO2/H2O. Temporal emission of Na has been measured quantitatively using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique. The effect of blending high-ash content coal with biomass, along with the impact of an oxyfuel environment in reducing Na emissions has been studied. A profound reduction in emissions of Na was found by blending high-ash content coal with biomass. High ash content coal was more effective in reducing Na emissions from coal-beechwood blends when compared with coal-paddy straw blends. Additionally, replacing N2 with CO2 in the combustion environment further reduces Na emissions from the coal–biomass blend pellets. As the concentration of high ash coal increased in the blend, the effective reduction in Na emissions due to CO2 was observed to decrease. The effect of grain size used to make the fuel pellets of different blending ratios of paddy straw and high-ash content coal has also been explored. A finer grain size of paddy straw in the blend was more effective in reducing Na emissions. A mathematical model has been developed to identify the dependence of peak Na emission on different parameters during the combustion of coal–biomass blended pellets of different blending ratios of biomass and high-ash content coal.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949821X24001376Agro-residue biomassHigh-ash content coalOxyfuel combustionCo-firingAlkali emissionLaser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
spellingShingle Sachin K. S
R.V. Ravikrishna
Pratikash Panda
Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
Next Energy
Agro-residue biomass
High-ash content coal
Oxyfuel combustion
Co-firing
Alkali emission
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
title Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
title_full Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
title_fullStr Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
title_full_unstemmed Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
title_short Study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high-ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
title_sort study on sodium emissions during the combustion of blends of biomass and high ash content coal in an oxyfuel environment
topic Agro-residue biomass
High-ash content coal
Oxyfuel combustion
Co-firing
Alkali emission
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949821X24001376
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AT pratikashpanda studyonsodiumemissionsduringthecombustionofblendsofbiomassandhighashcontentcoalinanoxyfuelenvironment