The influence of the elemental and structural chemical composition on the ash fusibility of sugarcane bagasse and sugarcane straw. (15th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Palma, Kelly Roberta de; Tomaz, Edson; Soria-Verdugo, Antonio; Silva, Maria Aparecida
• Is Part Of: Fuel. Volume 304(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-11-15
• Subjects: AFT Ash Fusion Temperature -- B Sugarcane bagasse -- BP Sugarcane bagasse pellet -- BA Sugarcane bagasse ash -- BPA Sugarcane bagasse pellet ash -- CLIN Clinopiroxine -- CORU Corundun -- CORD Cordeirite -- DT Initial Deformation Temperature -- EDS Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer -- FSPA Feldspar -- FT Fluid Temperature -- HHV Higher Heating Value -- HT Hemispheric Temperature -- LEUC Leucite -- MELM Melilite -- SC Sugarcane -- S Sugarcane straw -- SP Sugarcane straw pellet -- SA Sugarcane straw ash -- SPA Sugarcane straw pellet ash -- SEM Scanning Electron Microscope -- ST Softening Temperature -- XRD X-Ray Difraction -- XRF X-Ray Fluorescensce; Renewable energy -- Biomass -- Mineral additives -- Sugarcane bagasse pellet -- Sugarcane straw pellet; Fuel -- Periodicals; Coal -- Periodicals; Coal; Fuel; Periodicals; 662.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2021.121404
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-2361

Abstract

Highlights: Relation of biomass ash chemical composition and fusion temperature was studied. Strong dependence of ash fusion temperature on chemical composition was found. Sugarcane bagasse and straw ashes were rich in SiO2, Al2 O3 and Fe2 O3 . Fe present in ash acted as a flux element in the studied biomass. Presence of Al2 O3 contributed to increase the deformation temperature of straw. Abstract: Agricultural residues have been pointed out as an important source to energy conversion by direct burning. Nevertheless, their use still faces operational problems, such as slagging and fouling, mainly related to the inorganic fraction of their composition. The objectives of this work were to understand the fusion behavior of sugarcane biomass ash formed during thermal conversion and the tendency of slag and fouling to occur, in addition to propose possible solutions to minimize these problems using a mixture of biomass species and/or additive minerals. To that end, experimental measurements and thermodynamic simulations were employed to relate the chemical composition to the fusibility. The ashes chemical composition was characterized by EDS and XRD, while the ash fusion temperatures AFT́s (DT, ST, HT and FT) were measured by AF700 equipment and estimated using FactSage modeling. Statistical analysis helped to derive the relationship between chemical composition and AFT́s. The ashes were rich in SiO2, Al2 O3 and Fe2 O3 and revealed that for bagasse the element that most contributes to increase DT is Si, whereas for straw the presence of Al has a stronger effect to increase DT. Fe was found to act as flux element. XRD results showed the phases differences, finding more amorphous components in straw ash than in bagasse, which may lead to a different ash fusion behavior. Straw 2015 ash presented a DT of 733 °C while for bagasse 2015 and 2016 ashes the values of DT were 777 and 917 °C, respectively. In contrast, the DT of straw ash increased when mixed with bagasse 2015 and 2016 to values of 841 and 885 °C, respectively, and also when 1% of Al2 O3 was added, obtaining a DT of 930 °C. For bagasse samples, the additives showed a minor effect on ash melting behavior.