Abstract:
In the latter part of the 20th century, there has been a continuing global
concern of the consumption of fossil fuels used in power production. There is
further concern of the gaseous emissions that are created from this
consumption and an awareness of climbing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels that
are exhausted into the atmosphere.
The concept of co-firing fossil fuel with varying levels of biomass species is
not new but there is a requirement to explore its applications further in the
interests of both the environment and power production. With dwindling fossil
fuel resources, co-firing with biomass is a logical step forward as biomass is a
generally a renewable product – whereas fossil fuels are not. More
importantly, the study of effects of burning higher biomass percentages on the
heat exchanger matrix of power plants requires more attention. This has been
explored before in other studies that have resulted in inefficiencies within the
power generation plant.
The main of objectives of this research were to: co-fire coal with biomass
over a wide range of mixes within a combustion environment; monitor the
gaseous emissions and capture and analyse the deposits that are formed on
deposit capture probes.
The analysis of data obtained will enabled further research to be carried out
and model deposit flux behaviour of simulated heat exchanger models and
materials in the future.
