IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i11p6052-d563610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multi-Scale Minero-Chemical Analysis of Biomass Ashes: A Key to Evaluating Their Dangers vs. Benefits

Author

Listed:
  • Paola Comodi

    (Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy)

  • Azzurra Zucchini

    (Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy)

  • Umberto Susta

    (UOC PSAL, AUSL Umbria 1, 06127 Perugia, Italy)

  • Costanza Cambi

    (Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy)

  • Riccardo Vivani

    (Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy)

  • Gianluca Cavalaglio

    (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università Telematica Pegaso, 80132 Napoli, Italy)

  • Franco Cotana

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06121 Perugia, Italy)

Abstract

A multi-methodic analysis was performed on five samples of fly ashes coming from different biomasses. The aim of the study was to evaluate their possible re-use and their dangerousness to people and the environment. Optical granulometric analyses indicated that the average diameter of the studied fly ashes was around 20 µm, whereas only ~1 vol% had diameters lower that 2.5 µm. The chemical composition, investigated with electron probe microanalysis, indicated that all the samples had a composition in which Ca was prevalent, followed by Si and Al. Large contents of K and P were observed in some samples, whereas the amount of potentially toxic elements was always below the Italian law thresholds. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were completely absent in all the samples coming from combustion plants, whereas they were present in the fly ashes from the gasification center. Quantitative mineralogical content, determined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction data, indicated that all the samples had high amorphous content, likely enriched in Ca, and several K and P minerals, such as sylvite and apatite. The results obtained from the chemo-mineralogical study performed make it possible to point out that biomass fly ashes could be interesting materials (1) for amendments in clayey soils, as a substitution for lime, to stimulate pozzolanic reactions and improve their geotechnical properties, thus, on the one hand, avoiding the need to mine raw materials and, on the other hand, re-cycling waste; and (2) as agricultural fertilizers made by a new and ecological source of K and P.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Comodi & Azzurra Zucchini & Umberto Susta & Costanza Cambi & Riccardo Vivani & Gianluca Cavalaglio & Franco Cotana, 2021. "Multi-Scale Minero-Chemical Analysis of Biomass Ashes: A Key to Evaluating Their Dangers vs. Benefits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6052-:d:563610
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6052/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6052/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grzegorz Zając & Joanna Szyszlak-Bargłowicz & Wojciech Gołębiowski & Małgorzata Szczepanik, 2018. "Chemical Characteristics of Biomass Ashes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Gianluca Cavalaglio & Franco Cotana & Andrea Nicolini & Valentina Coccia & Alessandro Petrozzi & Alessandro Formica & Alessandro Bertini, 2020. "Characterization of Various Biomass Feedstock Suitable for Small-Scale Energy Plants as Preliminary Activity of Biocheaper Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Cai, Junmeng & He, Yifeng & Yu, Xi & Banks, Scott W. & Yang, Yang & Zhang, Xingguang & Yu, Yang & Liu, Ronghou & Bridgwater, Anthony V., 2017. "Review of physicochemical properties and analytical characterization of lignocellulosic biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 309-322.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Wojciech Rzeźnik & Ilona Rzeźnik & Paulina Mielcarek-Bocheńska & Mateusz Urbański, 2023. "Air Pollutants Emission during Co-Combustion of Animal Manure and Wood Pellets in 15 kW Boiler," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Yang, Yantao & Qu, Xia & Huang, Guorun & Ren, Suxia & Dong, Lili & Sun, Tanglei & Liu, Peng & Li, Yanling & Lei, Tingzhou & Cai, Junmeng, 2023. "Insight into lignocellulosic biomass torrefaction kinetics with case study of pinewood sawdust torrefaction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    3. Hu, Hangli & Luo, Yanru & Zou, Jianfeng & Zhang, Shukai & Yellezuome, Dominic & Rahman, Md Maksudur & Li, Yingkai & Li, Chong & Cai, Junmeng, 2022. "Exploring aging kinetic mechanisms of bio-oil from biomass pyrolysis based on change in carbonyl content," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 782-790.
    4. Shahbeig, Hossein & Nosrati, Mohsen, 2020. "Pyrolysis of municipal sewage sludge for bioenergy production: Thermo-kinetic studies, evolved gas analysis, and techno-socio-economic assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    5. Yoonah Jeong & Jae-Sung Kim & Ye-Eun Lee & Dong-Chul Shin & Kwang-Ho Ahn & Jinhong Jung & Kyeong-Ho Kim & Min-Jong Ku & Seung-Mo Kim & Chung-Hwan Jeon & I-Tae Kim, 2023. "Investigation and Optimization of Co-Combustion Efficiency of Food Waste Biochar and Coal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Xiao He & Anthony K. Lau & Shahab Sokhansanj, 2019. "Effect of Moisture on Gas Emissions from Stored Woody Biomass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. González, William A. & Pérez, Juan F. & Chapela, Sergio & Porteiro, Jacobo, 2018. "Numerical analysis of wood biomass packing factor in a fixed-bed gasification process," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 579-589.
    8. Neves, Renato Cruz & Klein, Bruno Colling & da Silva, Ricardo Justino & Rezende, Mylene Cristina Alves Ferreira & Funke, Axel & Olivarez-Gómez, Edgardo & Bonomi, Antonio & Maciel-Filho, Rubens, 2020. "A vision on biomass-to-liquids (BTL) thermochemical routes in integrated sugarcane biorefineries for biojet fuel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    9. Xuejun Qian & Jingwen Xue & Yulai Yang & Seong W. Lee, 2021. "Thermal Properties and Combustion-Related Problems Prediction of Agricultural Crop Residues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Munawar, Muhammad Assad & Khoja, Asif Hussain & Naqvi, Salman Raza & Mehran, Muhammad Taqi & Hassan, Muhammad & Liaquat, Rabia & Dawood, Usama Fida, 2021. "Challenges and opportunities in biomass ash management and its utilization in novel applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Elżbieta Rolka & Andrzej Cezary Żołnowski & Mirosław Wyszkowski & Weronika Zych & Anna Skorwider-Namiotko, 2023. "Wood Biomass Ash (WBA) from the Heat Production Process as a Mineral Amendment for Improving Selected Soil Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Luo, Laipeng & Zhang, Zhiyi & Li, Chong & Nishu, & He, Fang & Zhang, Xingguang & Cai, Junmeng, 2021. "Insight into master plots method for kinetic analysis of lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    13. Małgorzata Sieradzka & Agata Mlonka-Mędrala & Izabela Kalemba-Rec & Markus Reinmöller & Felix Küster & Wojciech Kalawa & Aneta Magdziarz, 2022. "Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Properties of Residue from Gasification of Biomass Wastes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    14. Yu, Dayu & Hu, Shuang & Liu, Weishan & Wang, Xiaoning & Jiang, Haifeng & Dong, Nanhang, 2020. "Pyrolysis of oleaginous yeast biomass from wastewater treatment: Kinetics analysis and biocrude characterization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 831-839.
    15. Zailan, Roziah & Lim, Jeng Shiun & Manan, Zainuddin Abdul & Alwi, Sharifah Rafidah Wan & Mohammadi-ivatloo, Behnam & Jamaluddin, Khairulnadzmi, 2021. "Malaysia scenario of biomass supply chain-cogeneration system and optimization modeling development: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    16. Andrzej Greinert & Maria Mrówczyńska & Radosław Grech & Wojciech Szefner, 2020. "The Use of Plant Biomass Pellets for Energy Production by Combustion in Dedicated Furnaces," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    17. Cheng, Wei & Shao, Jing'ai & Zhu, Youjian & Zhang, Wennan & Jiang, Hao & Hu, Junhao & Zhang, Xiong & Yang, Haiping & Chen, Hanping, 2022. "Effect of oxidative torrefaction on particulate matter emission from agricultural biomass pellet combustion in comparison with non-oxidative torrefaction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 39-51.
    18. Elżbieta Jarosz-Krzemińska & Joanna Poluszyńska, 2020. "Repurposing Fly Ash Derived from Biomass Combustion in Fluidized Bed Boilers in Large Energy Power Plants as a Mineral Soil Amendment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    19. Zhang, Zhiqing & Duan, Hanqi & Zhang, Youjun & Guo, Xiaojuan & Yu, Xi & Zhang, Xingguang & Rahman, Md. Maksudur & Cai, Junmeng, 2020. "Investigation of kinetic compensation effect in lignocellulosic biomass torrefaction: Kinetic and thermodynamic analyses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    20. Waheed A. Rasaq & Mateusz Golonka & Miklas Scholz & Andrzej Białowiec, 2021. "Opportunities and Challenges of High-Pressure Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6052-:d:563610. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.