Hot Gas Generators by Burning Biomass
The combustion of solid biomass occurs in systems called furnaces or burners, composed of the combustion chamber, grate, air fans, feeder, and ashtray.
Its purpose is to convert the chemical energy of the fuel into thermal energy, thus generating hot gases that can be used in dryers, thermal fluid heaters, furnaces, incinerators, boilers, and other applications for both industrial and domestic use.
Biomass Gasification
Lippel biomass burners are also suitable for the biomass gasification process, an old process that currently has renewed interest mainly due to the cleanliness and versatility of the generated fuel (gas) when compared to solid fuels.
Cleanliness refers to the removal of harmful chemical components to the environment and human health, including sulfur. Versatility refers to the possibility of alternative uses, such as in internal combustion engines and gas turbines.
An example is the generation of electricity in communities isolated from the electrical power grids, through the direct burning of gas in internal combustion engines.
Another advantage of gasification is that, under appropriate conditions, it produces synthetic gas, which can be used in the synthesis of any hydrocarbon.
These combustion systems are designed according to the type and quality of the available solid biomass. The functions of the combustion system include:
- Mixing air and fuel;
- Evaporating fuel moisture;
- Raising fuel temperature;
- Providing complete combustion;
- Creating turbulence to mix combustion gases;
- Maintaining continuous fuel combustion.
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Biomass burners also emerged as an alternative to the use of renewable energies instead of fossil fuels. This need for high energy demand for thermal generation combined with the low cost of solid biofuels led us to develop a series of equipment suitable for efficient combustion of various types of biomass.
For counterflow burning, the fuels used can be wet, ranging from 25 to 50%, and the ash content can be higher than 1%. For screw feeding, fuels of granulometric shape (around 5 cm) and homogeneous should be used, such as wood chips and sawdust.
For ground, irregular fuels (chips up to 35 cm in length), hydraulic fuel feeding systems are applied. With these, a range of fuels are applied, such as irregular chips and mixtures with other fuels, bark, tree prunings, recycled wood, among others.
In crossflow burning, fuels like pellets, briquettes, wood shavings, sawdust, wood chips with up to 25% moisture can be used, and the ash content can be higher than 1%.