Agglomeration Study for Empty Fruit Bunches Combustion in Circulating Bed Simulator
نویسندگان
1 Master Program of Energy, School of Postgraduate Studies, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
3 Research Center for Energy Conversion and Conservation, National Research and Innovation Agency, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia
4 Research Center for Energy Conversion and Conservation, National Research and Innovation Agency, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia
doi
10.5829/ije.2025.38.09c.04چکیده
Fluidized bed combustion is a promising conversion technology for solid fuels like biomass, coal, and blends. However, solid fuel combustion in fluidized beds suffers ash-related issues. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the CaCO3 additive on the agglomeration phenomenon using oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) in the fluidized bed combustion. The result showed that agglomeration occurs when EFB was burned between 800 and 900oC. In the case of the CaCO3 additive with 10%, 20%, and 30% in the sand bed, it indicated a decrease in the agglomeration phenomena during EFB combustion. The ash components formed during combustion were then analyzed using SEM-EDX (scanning electron microscopy) and XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy). The results indicated that the addition of CaCO3 increased the melting point of a compound similar to coal ash. The case of the 20% CaCO3 additive became the best case without disturbing the combustion temperature in the bed and with the fewest agglomeration clumps. An additional benefit of using CaCO3 in EFB combustion is that the composition of CO2 gas emissions from burning EFB was 2.8%, a much lower percentage than that of coal (6.4%). CaCO3 has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions slightly.
