پوهنتون تخنیکی غزنی
پوهنځی الکترومیخانیک
دیپارتمنت انجنیری انرژی
Chapter 3: Biomass Properties for
Thermal Conversion
Candidate Teaching Asst. S. Ah. Zamir FATEMI
Introduction To Biomass Energy Conversion, CRC Press, 2014
Learning Objectives
❖ Describe various properties of biomass important for thermal
conversion.
❖ Describe various methods of characterizing the physical and thermal
properties of biomass.
❖ Specify the various equipment used for characterizing various
biomass properties.
❖ Estimate some biomass properties by empirical equations when data
is given.
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Table of Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Physical Properties of Biomass
3.3 Important Thermal Related Properties
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3.1 Introduction
For the efficient thermal conversion of biomass, it is required to
know its properties as shown in the below figure:
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3.2 Physical Properties of Biomass
The physical properties of biomass includes:
▪ Particle Density
▪ Bulk Density
▪ Particle Size and Particle Distribution
▪ Angle of Repose
▪ Angle of Friction
▪ Heat Capacity of Biomass
▪ Thermal Conductivity of Biomass
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Cont.
Particle Density: is the measure of biomass particle weight per
unit volume that the biomass particle has occupied (kg/m3).
▪ Pycnometer is used for determining particle density.
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Cont.
Bulk Density: is the measure of biomass particle weight per unit
volume that the biomass particle has occupied plus the voids
between them (kg/m3).
▪ A 305x305x305mm box is used for determining bulk density.
▪ Biomass is first weighted, and then poured to the box from
610mm height and the box is dropped five times from a height
of 150mm to allow settling.
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Cont.
Particle Size and Particle Distribution: shows the percentage
of different particle sizes in a given grounded biomass sample.
▪ It is measured by using various slandered sieves.
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Cont.
Angle of Repose: is the steepest angle of the slope relative to the
horizontal plane when a biomass is poured on a horizontal surface.
This parameter is important for designing biomass conveying
systems such as belt conveyors.
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Cont.
Angle of Friction: is the angle with which the pile of biomass
will slide when raised from the horizontal plane.
▪ If the surface is smooth, the biomass materials will slide at
lower angle of friction then when the surface is rough.
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Cont.
Heat Capacity of Biomass: is the ratio of the amount of heat energy
transferred to the materials to the resulting increase in
temperature of that materials (J/k)
Thermal Conductivity of Biomass: is the ability of materials to
transfer heat (W/m.k)
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3.3 Important Thermal Related Properties
Three sets of standard biomass characterization which relate
thermal conversion properties are:
➢ Proximate Analysis
➢ Ultimate Analysis
➢ Heating Value Analysis
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Cont. Proximate Analysis
Proximate analysis includes the measurement of,
▪ Moister Content (MC)
▪ Volatile Combustible Matter (VCM)
▪ Ash
▪ Fixed Carbon (FC)
Thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA701) is used
for proximate analysis
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Cont.
Moister Content (MC):is the weight loss observed, when it is dried
under standard condition.
𝑴𝟏 −𝑴𝟐
Moister Content % = x 100
𝑴𝟏
Where,
M1 = initial weight
M2 = the weight after drying under standard condition (at 103°C for 16 hours)
▪ Gravimetric forced convection biomass dryer is used for drying.
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Cont.
Volatile Combustible Matter (VCM): is the weight of biomass lost
in form of vapors and gasses, when heated in the absence of air
under prescribed conditions.
𝑴𝟐 −𝑴𝟑
Volatile Combustible Matter % = x 100
𝑴𝟏
Where,
M1 = initial weight
M2 = the weight after drying under standard
condition (at 103°C for 16 hours)
M3 = the weight after heating in the absence of
air under prescribed condition (at 950 °C for 7
min)
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Cont.
Ash: is the inorganic residue (grayish white color) left after
biomass is burned under standard condition.
𝑨𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕
Ash content % = x 100
𝑴𝟏
Where,
M1 = initial weight
Fixed Carbon (FC): in terms of percentage is estimated by
subtracting the total percentage of the other three parameters
from 100.
Fixed carbon % = 100 – (%Moister + %Volatile Combustible Matter + %Ash)
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Cont.
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Cont.
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Cont.
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Cont. Ultimate Analysis
The ultimate analysis basically gives the elemental composition
of biomass in weight percent of carbon (C), hydrogen (H),
oxygen (O), sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N).
A couple of important parameters that may be calculated from the
ultimate analysis are atomic carbon-to-hydrogen ratio (C/H) and
atomic oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C).
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Cont.
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Cont. Heating Value Analysis
Heating value is mainly the heat released during combustion of a
specific amount of biomass.
The heating value of biomass is basically reported in terms of
higher heating value (HHV) and lower heating value (LHV).
▪ HHV is the energy released in combustion, where the water
vapor generated in the combustion process is condensed (the
latent heat of vaporization is released).
▪ LHV is the energy released in combustion, where the water
vapor generated in the combustion process is released in the
vapor form (the latent heat of vaporization is not released).
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Cont.
In some disciplines, HHV is reported either as dry bases (exclude
moisture) or dry ash free-bases (exclude moisture and ash).
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Cont.
The heating values can be determined experimentally as well as by
empirical correlations.
▪ The measurement units of the heating values are Cal/g or
kJ/kg.
▪ AC-500 bomb calorimeter is used
to determine the HHV of
biomass.
▪ If there was no bomb calorimeter,
HHV can be find from proximate
and ultimate analysis data by
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Cont.
HHV by Carbon Bases: when C is known from ultimate analysis,
the following equation developed by Jenkins and Ebeling (1985) by
testing 62 types of biomass can be used.
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Cont.
HHV by Ash Bases: when Ash is known from ultimate analysis, the
following equation developed by Jenkins (1989) can be used.
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Cont.
HHV by Ash and VCM Bases: when Ash and VCM are known from
proximate analysis, the following equation is used to find HHV.
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Cont.
HHV by Boie equation: when C, H, O, N and S are known from
ultimate analysis of coal, the following equation can be used to find
HHV.
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Cont.
HHV by Dulong equation: when C, H, O and S are known from
ultimate analysis of coal, the following equation can be used to find
HHV.
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Cont.
Determining Lower Heating Value (LHV): For calculating the
useful heat of combustion, we can’t use HHV, because we can’t
extract the heat which is lost in the flue gases. Therefore a practical
value is LHV.
For determining LHV, Automatic Bomb Calorimeter Instruction
Manual, (2011) recommends the following equation.
LHV = HHV – 24.41( H ad x 8.936 ) ( J / g )
Where,
Had = weight percent of hydrogen determined from ultimate
analysis.
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Cont.
Stoichiometry of Reaction: In the analyzing of thermal conversion
processes, we should know the complete reaction formula.
For example, the thermal reaction formula of methane is as follow:
CH4 + 2O2 ----> CO2 +2H2O + Heat
▪ If air is used as oxidant, then keep in mind that it is consist of
21%O2 and 79%N2 and the equation will become as follow;
CH4 + 2O2 + 2(3.76)N2----> CO2 +2H2O + 7.52N2 + Heat
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Cont.
Eutectic Point Analysis: At high temperatures of the thermal
conversion process, the ash will melt and upon cooling will form
heavy slag.
▪ The formed slag sticks to the conveying surfaces and create
blockage.
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Cont.
For evaluating this problem, two common indices Slagging Factor
(Rs) and Fouling Factor (Rf) are used.
Where,
Base= Fe2O3 + CaO + MgO + Na2O + K2O
Acid = SiO2 + TiO2 + Al2O3
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Cont.
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Assignment-3
Please solve all problems of chapter-3.
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Thank You!