Petrographic and physico-chemical analyses of ashes are carried out on a large scale and presented in numerous scientific papers. The mentioned ashes are obtained from filters and electrostatic precipitators mounted in large industrial installations. The large-scale analysis of the ashes obtained directly from grate furnaces or blast furnaces mounted in low-power boilers started with combating smog and low-stack emissions. The collection of ash samples from household furnaces usually involves the analysis of the combustion of waste in low-power boilers. This is justified in the case of old type boilers, which were designed to use virtually any fuel. Currently, new types of boilers, designed to burn dedicated fuels, are offered on the market. The aim is to use only renewable fuels (biomass) or fossil fuels with high quality parameters, which are more environment-friendly, e.g. eco-pea coal, lignite briquettes, or peat briquettes. The authors of the study focused on examining the ash obtained from boilers for burning wood pellets by performing microscopic analysis of residues after biomass combustion. The above mentioned analysis provides a comprehensive information on the efficiency of the combustion process, the content of contaminants remaining in the ash, and the suitability of ash for other applications. The entire process, from the moment of collecting the samples to the execution of the analysis takes up to 12 hours, which ensures a quick decision on furnace adjustment or fuel change. The ash components were determined based on the results obtained by the Fly-Ash Working Group of the International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP). The mentioned classification has been supplemented with new key elements occurring in ashes resulting from the combustion of wood pellets in household boilers. This allowed determining the percentage content of characteristic components in the tested material, which can be used as a specific benchmark when issuing opinions on the quality and efficiency of the boiler and the combusted pellets.
The use of biomass in the energy industry is the consequence of ongoing efforts to replace Energy from fossil fuels with energy from renewable sources. However, due to the diversity of the biomass, its use as a solid fuel generates waste with diverse and unstable chemical composition. Waste from biomass combustion is a raw material with a very diverse composition, even in the case of using only one type of biomass. The content of individual elements in fly ash from the combustion of biomass ranges from zero to tens of percent. This makes it difficult to determine the optimal recovery methods. The ashes from the combustion of biomass are most commonly used in the production of building materials and agriculture. This article presents the elemental composition of the most commonly used biomass fuels. The results of the analysis of elemental composition of fly ashes from the combustion of forest and agricultural biomass in fluidized bed boilers used in the commercial power industry were presented. These ashes are characterized by a high content of calcium (12.3–19.4%), silicon (1.2–8.3%), potassium (0.05–1.46%), chlorine (1.1–6.1%), and iron (0.8–6.5%). The discussed ashes contained no sodium. Aluminum was found only in one of the five ashes. Manganese, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, sulfur, bismuth, titanium and zirconium were found in all of the examined ashes. The analysis of elemental composition may allow for a preliminary assessment of the recovery potential of a given ash.
The presence of inorganic elements in solid fuels is not only considered a direct source of problems in the furnace but is also connected with the release of pollutants into air during combustion. This article focuses on the sintering characteristics of biomass and coal ashes, in particular on the leaching processes, and their impact on the tendency to sinter ash. Biomass and coal ash with high alkali metal concentration can deposit in boiler sections and cause severe operating problems such as slagging, fouling and corrosion of boiler and heat exchanger surface, limiting heat transfer. Two biomass types and one coal ash with different origin and different chemical compositions were investigated. A sequential leaching analysis was employed in this study to elucidate the modes of occurrence of metals that can transform into fuel extract. Sequential leaching analysis was conducted as a two-step process: using distilled water in the first step and acetic acid in the second step. The chemical composition of ashes, before and after each step of the leaching processwas studied using ICP-OES method. The standard Ash Fusion Temperature (AFTs) technique was also employed to assess the sintering tendency of the tested samples. It was observed that the presence of key elements such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and sulphur (elucidated in the leaching process) plays a significant role in sintering process. The sintering tendency enhances when the concentration of these elements increases.
Preliminary lab-scale investigations were conducted on slagging abatement in biomass-firing by fuel mixing. Three agriculture biomass fuels and olive cake were used in the experiments. Polish lignites and bituminous coals were examined as anti-sintering additives. The effects of chlorine release, potassium retention and ash sintering were examined by heating samples of biomass fuels and additives in the muffle oven and, next, firing them in the laboratory down-fired furnace at the temperature in the range of 800-1150ºC. The obtained slag samples were analysed on: chlorine and potassium content, sintering tendency and crystalline components. Among the examined coals lignite from Turów mine and bituminous coal from Bolesław Śmiały mine appeared to be the most effective in potassium retention in aluminosilicate and chlorine release from slag. Possibly the major factor of these coals which reduced ash sintering was relatively high content of kaolinite
One of the elements of the Polish Energy Policy program is the development of renewable energy, including energy from biomass combustion. In Poland, the Green Block was built at the Połaniec Power Station fired with 100% biomass fuel. This solution is conducive not only to obtaining energy but also to improving environmental protection. During the combustion of biomass in a fluidized bed boiler, about 50 thousand tons of fly ash per year being a source of nutrients for plants, for example potassium salts, phosphorus, calcium, boron compounds, etc. was derived. The subject of the research were three types of ashes from biomass combustion containing 80% dendromass and 20% agromass. Agromas was made of straw, dried material or sliced palm nuts. The physical characteristics and chemical composition of three basic fly ash samples are presented. Due to the high fineness and thus dusting during spreading, it was found that there is no possibility of the direct use of fly ash from biomass combustion as an alkalizing agent for acidic soils. The lowest bulk density was demonstrated by samples of fly ash originating from the combustion of biomass containing 20% straw as agromass, while the poorest in potassium and phosphorus were ash samples obtained from the combustion of biomass containing 20% agromass in the form of palm kernel slate. As additional components, mineral acids as well as inorganic compounds, including industrial waste, were used to correct the chemical composition and to mineral fertilizer granulation. The number of introduced components was related to the postulated composition of the produced fertilizer. Examples of mineral fertilizers obtained, both simple and multicomponent fertilizers, are presented.
Soils that have been exposed to flood waters can be heavily polluted by inorganic and organic compounds. They are mainly compounds which appear in dissolved or suspended form flowing together with heavily laden floodwater, as well as compounds created as a result of reactions in the soil profile, mostly due to anaerobic transformation of organic matter. Heavy metals brought with flood waters are absorbed by the soil and also washed out from flood sediments by precipitation when the flood recedes. This paper presents the results of research on the effects of fertilization with ash from incineration or pyrolysis of biomass on the migration process of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Cd, Mn) in the arable layer of soil. It has been shown that the metals in the flood sediment migrate actively in the soil profile what leads to the enrichment of the soils, also in the case of the soil fertilization with biomass ash.
In this paper are presented results of study fusion characteristics of the biomass ashes from the hydrolyzed lignin and the ashes from the coke breeze. The hydrolyzed lignin ashes were compared with the coke breeze ashes i.e. with a fossil fuel. These ashes were prepared in muffle furnace at the temperature of 550°C (hydrolyzed lignin) and 850°C (coke breeze). Biomass (the hydrolyzed lignin) represents the new fuels for sintering process and an attractive way to decrease CO2 emissions from the energy production. The characterization methods were the following: standard fuel characterization analyses, chemical and mineralogical composition of the ashes and phase analyses of the ashes of biomass and the coke breeze. These ashes were prepared by the same method. Characterisation of the ashes samples was conducted by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quantitative analysis of the crystalline and amorphous phases in each of the ash samples were carried out using the Rietveld method. The dominant phase of the ash from the coke breeze was mullite (Al6Si2O13). SiO2 is the dominant phase of the ash from the hydrolyzed lignin.
This study presents the rheological properties of sewage sludge after conditioning with the application of biomass ash. The impact of sewage sludge pre-treatment on its viscosity, ﬂow curves and thixotropy was investigated. The increase of shear stress and the decrease of viscosity were observed with the increase of shear rate. Obtained results were compared with raw sewage sludge and the sludge after modiﬁcation by means of polyelectrolyte in the dosage of 1.5 g (kg d.m.)-1. The ﬁndings proved that samples of raw and conditioned sewage sludge had thixotropic characteristics. The correlation between moisture content and capillary suction time reduction as well as selected rheological parameters were also determined. On the basis of the obtained results it was stated that the Ostwald de Vaele model best ﬁts the experimental data.
Industrial utilization of fly ash from various kinds of fuel plays an important role in the envi-ronmentally clean and cost effective power production. The primary market for fly ash utilizationis as a pozzolanic addition in concrete production. The paper concerns the concretes containingfly ash called Fly Ash from Biomass (FAB) from co-combustion of hard coal and wood biomass(wood chips). Characterization of the fly ash was carried on by means of X-ray diffractometryand E-SEM/EDS analysis. The results of laboratory studies undertaken to evaluate the influence of FAB on concrete resistance to surface scaling due to cyclic freezing and thawing in the presenceof NaCl solution were presented. The tests were carried out for concretes containing up to 25% offly ash related to cement mass. Additionally, the microstructure of air-voids was described. It was concluded that the FAB has significant effect on concrete freeze/thaw durability. The re-placement of cement by fly ash from co-combustion progressively transformed the concrete mi-crostructure into less resistant against freeze/thaw cycles and excessive dosage (over 15%) maydangerously increase the scaling.