IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v53y2016icp235-242.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biomass combustion systems: A review on the physical and chemical properties of the ashes

Author

Listed:
  • Nunes, L.J.R.
  • Matias, J.C.O.
  • Catalão, J.P.S.

Abstract

Biomass as an energy source contributes to a decrease in the dependence on imported fossil fuels, while at the same time, adding value to the countries where biomass fuel sources thrive, in addition to providing a source of renewable energy. Knowledge of the behaviour of fuel is essential in order to design and operate equipment safely and efficiently. In particular, knowledge about mineral content is essential because the ashes play an important role in the dynamics of the generation system. Through knowledge of the chemical composition and physical properties of the ashes, it is possible to predict the tendency to form deposits in the boiler components, as well as their potential to cause corrosion, erosion and abrasion. The behaviour of the ashes in the system is highly dependent on fuel, particularly when it comes from industrial waste or energy crops. These fuels have a higher mineral content, particularly sodium (Na), potassium (K), phosphorous (P) and chloride (Cl). They also have higher ash content with a low melting point and high corrosion potential. This paper focuses on the characteristics of the ashes derived from the combustion of biomass, with particular attention paid to the chemical transformations at high temperatures, as well as its effect on the combustion equipment. Emphasis is placed on the potential problems that occur when biomass-burning technologies are used for energy crops, in order to avoid catastrophic failures. It concludes with recommendations for the management, control and prevention of problems associated with ash.

Suggested Citation

  • Nunes, L.J.R. & Matias, J.C.O. & Catalão, J.P.S., 2016. "Biomass combustion systems: A review on the physical and chemical properties of the ashes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 235-242.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:235-242
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.08.053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115009168
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.08.053?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fournel, S. & Palacios, J.H. & Morissette, R. & Villeneuve, J. & Godbout, S. & Heitz, M. & Savoie, P., 2015. "Influence of biomass properties on technical and environmental performance of a multi-fuel boiler during on-farm combustion of energy crops," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 247-259.
    2. Ruiz, J.A. & Juárez, M.C. & Morales, M.P. & Muñoz, P. & Mendívil, M.A., 2013. "Biomass gasification for electricity generation: Review of current technology barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 174-183.
    3. Cherney, Jerome H. & Verma, Vijay Kumar, 2013. "Grass pellet Quality Index: A tool to evaluate suitability of grass pellets for small scale combustion systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 679-684.
    4. Nunes, L.J.R. & Matias, J.C.O. & Catalão, J.P.S., 2014. "A review on torrefied biomass pellets as a sustainable alternative to coal in power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 153-160.
    5. Hellsmark, Hans & Jacobsson, Staffan, 2012. "Realising the potential of gasified biomass in the European Union—Policy challenges in moving from demonstration plants to a larger scale diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 507-518.
    6. Tan, Zhongxin & Lagerkvist, Anders, 2011. "Phosphorus recovery from the biomass ash: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3588-3602.
    7. Kumar, Anil & Kumar, Nitin & Baredar, Prashant & Shukla, Ashish, 2015. "A review on biomass energy resources, potential, conversion and policy in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 530-539.
    8. Hansen, Ulrich Elmer & Nygaard, Ivan, 2014. "Sustainable energy transitions in emerging economies: The formation of a palm oil biomass waste-to-energy niche in Malaysia 1990–2011," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 666-676.
    9. Sahu, S.G. & Chakraborty, N. & Sarkar, P., 2014. "Coal–biomass co-combustion: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 575-586.
    10. Razali, Nurul Aini Mohamed & Lee, Keat Teong & Bhatia, Subhash & Mohamed, Abdul Rahman, 2012. "Heterogeneous catalysts for production of chemicals using carbon dioxide as raw material: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4951-4964.
    11. Saidur, R. & BoroumandJazi, G. & Mekhilef, S. & Mohammed, H.A., 2012. "A review on exergy analysis of biomass based fuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 1217-1222.
    12. Abbasi, Tasneem & Abbasi, S.A., 2010. "Biomass energy and the environmental impacts associated with its production and utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 919-937, April.
    13. Fuller, A. & Carbo, M. & Savat, P. & Kalivodova, J. & Maier, J. & Scheffknecht, G., 2015. "Results of fly ash quality for disposal options from high thermal shares up to pure biomass combustion in a pilot-scale and large scale pulverized fuel power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 899-910.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrzej Sitka & Wiesław Jodkowski & Piotr Szulc & Daniel Smykowski & Bogusław Szumiło, 2021. "Study of the Properties and Particulate Matter Content of the Gas from the Innovative Pilot-Scale Gasification Installation with Integrated Ceramic Filter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Galina Nyashina & Pavel Strizhak, 2018. "Impact of Forest Fuels on Gas Emissions in Coal Slurry Fuel Combustion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Syed-Hassan, Syed Shatir A. & Wang, Yi & Hu, Song & Su, Sheng & Xiang, Jun, 2017. "Thermochemical processing of sewage sludge to energy and fuel: Fundamentals, challenges and considerations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 888-913.
    4. Yi Zhang & Guanmin Zhang & Min Wei & Zhenqiang Gao & Maocheng Tian & Fang He, 2019. "Comparisons of Acid and Water Solubilities of Rice Straw Ash Together with Its Major Ash-Forming Elements at Different Ashing Temperatures: An Experimental Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Juan Jesús Rico & Raquel Pérez-Orozco & Natalia Cid & Ana Larrañaga & José Luis Míguez Tabarés, 2020. "Viability of Agricultural and Forestry Residues as Biomass Fuels in the Galicia-North Portugal Region: An Experimental Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Yin, Chungen, 2020. "Development in biomass preparation for suspension firing towards higher biomass shares and better boiler performance and fuel rangeability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    7. Aleksandra Minajeva & Algirdas Jasinskas & Rolandas Domeika & Edvardas Vaiciukevičius & Egidijus Lemanas & Stanisław Bielski, 2021. "The Study of the Faba Bean Waste and Potato Peels Recycling for Pellet Production and Usage for Energy Conversion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    8. Niu, Miaomiao & Huang, Yaji & Jin, Baosheng & Liang, Shaohua & Dong, Qing & Gu, Haiming & Sun, Rongyue, 2019. "A novel two-stage enriched air biomass gasification for producing low-tar high heating value fuel gas: Pilot verification and performance analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 511-522.
    9. Truong-Ba, Huy & Cholette, Michael E. & Borghesani, Pietro & Ma, Lin & Kent, Geoff, 2021. "Condition-based inspection policies for boiler heat exchangers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 291(1), pages 232-243.
    10. Sakiewicz, Piotr & Piotrowski, Krzysztof & Kalisz, Sylwester, 2020. "Neural network prediction of parameters of biomass ashes, reused within the circular economy frame," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 743-753.
    11. Tahereh Jalalabadi & Behdad Moghtaderi & Jessica Allen, 2020. "Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass in the Presence of Molten Alkali-Metal Carbonates under Reducing Environments of N 2 and CO 2," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-14, October.
    12. Nii Nelson & Jo Darkwa & John Calautit & Mark Worall & Robert Mokaya & Eunice Adjei & Francis Kemausuor & Julius Ahiekpor, 2021. "Potential of Bioenergy in Rural Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, January.
    13. Olatunji, Obafemi O. & Akinlabi, Stephen & Madushele, Nkosinathi & Adedeji, Paul A., 2020. "Property-based biomass feedstock grading using k-Nearest Neighbour technique," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    14. Toscano, G. & Duca, D. & Foppa Pedretti, E. & Pizzi, A. & Rossini, G. & Mengarelli, C. & Mancini, M., 2016. "Investigation of woodchip quality: Relationship between the most important chemical and physical parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 38-44.
    15. da Silva, Carlos Miguel Simões & Carneiro, Angélica de Cássia Oliveira & Vital, Benedito Rocha & Figueiró, Clarissa Gusmão & Fialho, Lucas de Freitas & de Magalhães, Mateus Alves & Carvalho, Amélia Gu, 2018. "Biomass torrefaction for energy purposes – Definitions and an overview of challenges and opportunities in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2426-2432.
    16. Karol Król & Dorota Nowak-Woźny, 2021. "Application of the Mechanical and Pressure Drop Tests to Determine the Sintering Temperature of Coal and Biomass Ash," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, February.
    17. Kang, Kang & Klinghoffer, Naomi B. & ElGhamrawy, Islam & Berruti, Franco, 2021. "Thermochemical conversion of agroforestry biomass and solid waste using decentralized and mobile systems for renewable energy and products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    18. Nodirjon Nurmatov & Daniel Armando Leon Gomez & Frank Hensgen & Lutz Bühle & Michael Wachendorf, 2016. "High-Quality Solid Fuel Production from Leaf Litter of Urban Street Trees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, November.
    19. Zhao, Chuanwen & Guo, Yafei & Yan, Junjie & Sun, Jian & Li, Weiling & Lu, Ping, 2019. "Enhanced CO2 sorption capacity of amine-tethered fly ash residues derived from co-firing of coal and biomass blends," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 453-461.
    20. Eksi, Guner & Karaosmanoglu, Filiz, 2017. "Combined bioheat and biopower: A technology review and an assessment for Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1313-1332.
    21. Deboni, Tamires Liza & Simioni, Flávio José & Brand, Martha Andreia & Lopes, Gisele Paim, 2019. "Evolution of the quality of forest biomass for energy generation in a cogeneration plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1291-1302.
    22. Guiyan Zang & Jianan Zhang & Junxi Jia & Nathaniel Weger & Albert Ratner, 2019. "Clean Poultry Energy System Design Based on Biomass Gasification Technology: Thermodynamic and Economic Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    23. Krzysztof Kosowski & Karol Tucki & Marian Piwowarski & Robert Stępień & Olga Orynycz & Wojciech Włodarski & Anna Bączyk, 2019. "Thermodynamic Cycle Concepts for High-Efficiency Power Plans. Part A: Public Power Plants 60+," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-11, January.
    24. da Silva, Jean Constantino Gomes & Pereira, Jefferson Leque Claudio & Andersen, Silvia Layara Floriani & Moreira, Regina de Fatima Peralta Muniz & José, Humberto Jorge, 2020. "Torrefaction of ponkan peel waste in tubular fixed-bed reactor: In-depth bioenergetic evaluation of torrefaction products," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    25. Tabakaev, Roman & Ibraeva, Kanipa & Kan, Victor & Dubinin, Yury & Rudmin, Maksim & Yazykov, Nikolay & Zavorin, Alexander, 2020. "The effect of co-combustion of waste from flour milling and highly mineralized peat on sintering of the ash residue," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhai, Jihua & Burke, Ian T. & Stewart, Douglas I., 2021. "Beneficial management of biomass combustion ashes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Francis Chinweuba Eboh & Peter Ahlström & Tobias Richards, 2017. "Exergy Analysis of Solid Fuel-Fired Heat and Power Plants: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-29, February.
    3. Eksi, Guner & Karaosmanoglu, Filiz, 2017. "Combined bioheat and biopower: A technology review and an assessment for Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1313-1332.
    4. Samiran, Nor Afzanizam & Jaafar, Mohammad Nazri Mohd & Ng, Jo-Han & Lam, Su Shiung & Chong, Cheng Tung, 2016. "Progress in biomass gasification technique – With focus on Malaysian palm biomass for syngas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1047-1062.
    5. Jha, Gaurav & Soren, S., 2017. "Study on applicability of biomass in iron ore sintering process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 399-407.
    6. Sébastien Fournel & Joahnn H. Palacios & Stéphane Godbout & Michèle Heitz, 2015. "Effect of Additives and Fuel Blending on Emissions and Ash-Related Problems from Small-Scale Combustion of Reed Canary Grass," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Deboni, Tamires Liza & Simioni, Flávio José & Brand, Martha Andreia & Lopes, Gisele Paim, 2019. "Evolution of the quality of forest biomass for energy generation in a cogeneration plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1291-1302.
    8. Pio, D.T. & Tarelho, L.A.C. & Pinto, R.G. & Matos, M.A.A. & Frade, J.R. & Yaremchenko, A. & Mishra, G.S. & Pinto, P.C.R., 2018. "Low-cost catalysts for in-situ improvement of producer gas quality during direct gasification of biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 442-454.
    9. Ishtiaq Ahmed & Muhammad Anjum Zia & Huma Afzal & Shaheez Ahmed & Muhammad Ahmad & Zain Akram & Farooq Sher & Hafiz M. N. Iqbal, 2021. "Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts of Biomass Valorisation: A Strategic Drive for Sustainable Bioeconomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-32, April.
    10. Andrzej Sitka & Wiesław Jodkowski & Piotr Szulc & Daniel Smykowski & Bogusław Szumiło, 2021. "Study of the Properties and Particulate Matter Content of the Gas from the Innovative Pilot-Scale Gasification Installation with Integrated Ceramic Filter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-11, November.
    11. Nunes, L.J.R. & Matias, J.C.O. & Catalão, J.P.S., 2014. "A review on torrefied biomass pellets as a sustainable alternative to coal in power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 153-160.
    12. Ramos, Ana & Monteiro, Eliseu & Silva, Valter & Rouboa, Abel, 2018. "Co-gasification and recent developments on waste-to-energy conversion: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 380-398.
    13. Das, S. & Kashyap, D. & Kalita, P. & Kulkarni, V. & Itaya, Y., 2020. "Clean gaseous fuel application in diesel engine: A sustainable option for rural electrification in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    14. Lanfranchi, Maurizio & Giannetto, Carlo & De Pascale, Angelina, 2016. "Economic analysis and energy valorization of by-products of the olive oil process: “Valdemone DOP” extra virgin olive oil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1227-1236.
    15. Nunes, L.J.R. & Matias, J.C.O. & Catalão, J.P.S., 2017. "Biomass in the generation of electricity in Portugal: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 373-378.
    16. Weronika Tulej & Szymon Głowacki & Andrzej Bryś & Mariusz Sojak & Piotr Wichowski & Krzysztof Górnicki, 2021. "Research on Determination of Water Diffusion Coefficient in Single Particles of Wood Biomass Dried Using Convective Drying Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, February.
    17. Naqvi, Salman Raza & Jamshaid, Sana & Naqvi, Muhammad & Farooq, Wasif & Niazi, Muhammad Bilal Khan & Aman, Zaeem & Zubair, Muhammad & Ali, Majid & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Inayat, Abrar & Afzal, Waheed, 2018. "Potential of biomass for bioenergy in Pakistan based on present case and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1247-1258.
    18. Makade, Rahul G. & Chakrabarti, Siddharth & Jamil, Basharat & Sakhale, C.N., 2020. "Estimation of global solar radiation for the tropical wet climatic region of India: A theory of experimentation approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 2044-2059.
    19. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Umeki, Kentaro & Mousa, Elsayed & Hedayati, Ali & Romar, Henrik & Kemppainen, Antti & Wang, Chuan & Phounglamcheik, Aekjuthon & Tuomikoski, Sari & Norberg, Nicklas & Andefors, Alf , 2018. "Use of biomass in integrated steelmaking – Status quo, future needs and comparison to other low-CO2 steel production technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 384-407.
    20. Huda, A.S.N. & Mekhilef, S. & Ahsan, A., 2014. "Biomass energy in Bangladesh: Current status and prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 504-517.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biomass; Combustion; Ashes; Corrosion;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:235-242. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.