Thermal Behaviour and Emission Characteristics of Arundo donax L. as Potential Biofuel

ALEJANDRA, MANZUR; VERÓNICA, CÓRDOBA; ESTELA, SANTALLA

BioEnergy Research

Springer Nature

Lugar: New York; Año: 2022

1939-1234

The study evaluates the potential of Arundo donax L., a perennial herbaceous that can grow in wide varieties of soils withminimal water and nutrient requirements, as a solid biofuel for the production of thermal energy. The biomass was charac-terized in terms of proximal, chemical, and elemental analysis using standard techniques. The combustion behaviour andthermal efficiency were evaluated by using a domestic stove through the Water Boiling Test. The gaseous emissions fromthe combustion of Arundo donax L. were measured with a portable device and compared with those from other conven-tional biomasses such as pine pellets, corn cobs, and commercial firewood. The results showed a higher heating value of17.36 ± 0.171 MJ/kg and an elemental composition based on more than 45% carbon. The WBT revealed both, the shortesttime (27.8 min) and the specific fuel consumption (1.1 kg/L), and the highest burning rate (88.8 g/min) for Arundo donaxL. compared to the rest of the biomasses studied. The flue gas profile revealed CO2 emissions of 2.6%, similar to pellets andcommercial firewood (1.3 and 1.9%, respectively), a percentage of CO lower than corn cobs, although somewhat unstable,and NOx emission of around 197 mg/Nm3 only higher than pine pellets. These results revealed the technical viability ofArundo donax L. as a biofuel for thermal energy production, at least at residential level, contributing to the diversificationof renewable sources of bioenergy in a sustainability scenario against climate changes effects (3) (PDF) Thermal Behaviour and Emission Characteristics of Arundo donax L. as Potential Biofuel. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366552457_Thermal_Behaviour_and_Emission_Characteristics_of_Arundo_donax_L_as_Potential_Biofuel [accessed Dec 31 2022].