BIOMASS COMBUSTION 1

COMBUSTION OF BIOMASS FUELS

1. HEATING VALUE, AIR DEMAND AND FLUE GAS PRODUCTION
1.1. Heating Value
Combustion may be defined as a fast spontaneous chemical reaction of the oxidation-
reduction type with large energy release. Such a reaction mainly involves the carbon and
hydrogen elements of any type of fuel as reducers and the atmospheric oxygen as oxidizer.
The main practical objective of a combustion is to transform the chemical latent heat of the
reactants, i.e. the so called Heating Value, into sensible heat. This last can be carried out by
direct radiation to the walls of the combustion chamber and/or by convection using the
reaction products as a heat carrier, or directly converted into mechanical work in a
thermodynamic process.
The Heating Value of a fuel is defined as the heat release in a constant pressure process
involving the unit of quantity of the fuel. The Lower Heating Value LHV is defined as the
heat to be removed from the reaction products to obtain a final temperature equal to the initial
temperature of the reactants, assuming that the reaction products remain in gaseous phase, i.e.
that the condensation heat of the water is not available.
This definition corresponds therefore to the difference between the standard enthalpy of the
reactants and the standard enthalpy of the products under normal conditions.
The standard enthalpy of the single chemical species such as C (graphite), H
2
, O
2
, ... is zero.
The non-zero standard enthalpy H
273
of the normal products of a combustion involves CO
2

and H
2
O :

273 2
273 2 vap
H ( CO ) 393500 kJ / kmole
H ( H O ) 241800 kJ / kmole
=
=

The non-zero standard enthalpy of the reactants involves a lot of more or less complicated
chemical species, such as CO, hydrocarbons, alcohols, pure cellulose, ... , which are well
known. Therefore, the standard enthalpy of a fuel completely defined in percentage of
such well defined chemical species would be easily computed by linear combination of their
components. The following values are especially useful :

273 a
273
273 4
H ( CH ) 10870 a kJ / kmole ( for char or coke : a 0.2 )
H ( CO) 111100 kJ / kmole
H ( CH ) 74700 kJ / kmole
=
=
=

By difference between the standard enthalpy of the reactants and the standard enthalpy of the
products, one obtains the following values of several LHV :
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 2

2
4
0.2
LHV( C ) 393500 kJ / kmole
LHV( H ) 241800 kJ / kmole
LHV( CO) 282400 kJ / kmole
LHV( CH ) 802400 kJ / kmole
LHV( CH ) 420120 kJ / kmole
=
=
=
=
=

Unfortunately, the actual fuels are often very variable combinations of such species, and their
composition may only be defined as an elementary percentage of single species, without a
thorough knowledge of their actual chemical structure.
A lot of formulae have been proposed to approximate the LHV of several actual fuels, more
especially solid fuels, on basis of their elementary composition. This last can be expressed in
a very convenient form, as a stoechiometry formula written for one atom of carbon :

y x z u
CH O N S
For pure and dry biomass fuels of the ligno-cellulosic type, nitrogen and sulphur are usually
negligible and the above formula may be rewritten as follows for a pure (without minerals)
and dry fuel :

y x
CH O with y 1.44 and x 0.66
A very good approximation of the Heating Value of such a fuel can be derived from an
equivalent distribution of the actual (unknown) chemical bonds between C, H and O, based on
pyrolysis data and using simple compounds involving C O = , O H and C H . The
totality of the oxygen is considered to be distributed on the carbon and on the hydrogen to
form CO and H
2
O balancing the species as follows :

y x 2 y
x x x
CH O CO 0.5y H O ( 1 ) CH
1 0.5y 1 0.5y 1 0.5y
+ +
+ + +
.
The remaining hydrogen is then distributed on the carbon to form CH
4
and a residual coke
CH
0.2
as follows :

y 0.2 4
x x 4 y y 0.2
( 1 )CH ( 1 )( CH CH )
1 0.5y 1 0.5y 3.8 3.8

+
+ +
.
One obtains therefore the global equivalence :

y x 2
4 0.2
x x
CH O CO 0.5y H O
1 0.5y 1 0.5y
x y 0.2 x 4 y
( 1 ) CH ( 1 ) CH
1 0.5y 3.8 1 0.5y 3.8
+
+ +

+ +
+ +

and the following expressions of the LHV of a pure and dry biomass fuel :
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 3

y x
CH O
x
LHV 400000 100600 y ( 117600 100600 y ) ( kJ / kmole )
1 0.5y
x
400000 100600 y ( 117600 100600 y )
1 0.5y
( kJ / kg ) .
12 y 16x
+ +
+
+ +
+

+ +

With y = 1.44 and x = 0.66 , the value LHV" is therefore 18500 kJ/kg.
Biomass fuels are often (unfortunately) neither pure neither dry. The mineral matter content
(Mm) may generally be considered as a dilutant of the active species. The moisture content
(Hu) plays not only a role of dilutant, but also a role of active species with a negative LHV,
corresponding to its heat of vaporisation 2500 kJ/kg, consumed during the combustion
process. Assuming that (Mm") and ( Hu" ) are expressed as weight ratios to the pure and dry
fuel, the actual LHV of the raw fuel can be easily derived from the value LHV" of the pure and
dry fuel, as follows :

LHV 2500( Hu )
LHV kJ / kg
1 ( Mm ) ( Hu )

=

+ +
.
An equivalent formula may be written using the weight ratios (As) and (Hu) to the raw fuel :
LHV [1 ( Mm) ( Hu )] LHV 2500 ( Hu ) kJ / kg

= .
Table 1 illustrates the strong decrease of the Heating Value with the moisture content, more
especially for high mineral content fuels.
0 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40
0 18500 16400 14300 12200 10100
0.05 17575 15475 13375 11275 9175
0.10 16650 14550 12450 10350 8250
0.15 15725 13625 11525 9425 7325
0.20 14800 12700 10600 8500 6400
Table 1.
Lower Heating Value (kJ/kg) of a biomass fuel versus the moisture and the mineral contents
It is obvious that an efficient biomass combustion system must include a pre-drying device
using any available low potential heat, e.g. heat recovered from the exhaust gases, in order to
maximize the actual available LHV of the fuel.
(Hu)
(Mm)
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 4
Considering now that only the active matter is an "expensive" consumable, a convenient
"reference" Heating Value LHV
re
may be expressed as the heat release corresponding to the
quantity of the pure and dry matter in the raw fuel, i.e. out of the negative LHV of the
moisture :

ref
LHV [1 ( Mm) ( Hu )] LHV

=
The "availability" of this reference Heating Value for any fuel may be expressed as the ratio
between the actual Heating Value LHV of the fuel and its "reference" LHV
re
. This
"availability factor" is a fundamental quality factor of the energy content for a biomass fuel :

LHV
2500( Hu )
1
[1 ( Mm) ( Hu )] LHV

With the above value 18500 kJ/kg for LHV", one obtains the following values of this
availability factor as a function of the moisture content and of the mineral content :
0 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40
0 1 0.985 0.966 0.942 0.910
0.05 1 0.984 0.964 0.938 0.902
0.10 1 0.983 0.961 0.932 0.892
0.15 1 0.982 0.958 0.926 0.880
0.20 1 0.981 0.955 0.919 0.865
Table 2.
LHV
ref
availability factor of a biomass fuel versus the moisture and the mineral contents
These values of the LHV availability factor are more significant at an energy viewpoint than
those of the LHV itself, which are combining the energy loss due to the moisture and the
dilution effect of the non fuel content. However, it appears obvious again that an efficient
energy use of a biomass fuel needs an external pre-drying , in order to avoid the in situ
consumption of energy during the combustion itself.
1.2. Air demand and flue gas production
The here-above symbolic formula of the chemical composition of a ligno-cellulosic fuel is
very convenient to compute the stoechiometric air demand in terms of volume
a1
V

or in terms
(Hu)
(Mm)
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 5
of mass
a1
m

. The stoechiometric reaction of such a fuel with dry air may be expressed as
follows :

y x 2 2 2 2 2
y 2x y y 2x
CH O ( 1 ) ( O 3.76N ) CO H O 3.76( 1 ) N
4 2 4

+ + + + + + (1)
where the atmospheric air has been considered to be a dry O
2
/N
2
mixture. Taking in account
the normal molecular volume
3
N
22.710 m / kmole and the involved molecular weights, one
may write :

3
a1 N
a1
y 2x
( 1 )
4
V 108.1 m air / kg fuel
12 y 16x
y 2x
( 1 )
4
m 137.9 kg air / kg fuel
12 y 16x

=
+ +

=
+ +

Similarly, the stoechiometric volume and the stoechiometric mass of the flue gases is easily
computed :

3
f 1 N
y x
108.1 130.8 85.4
4 2
V m flue gas / kg fuel
12 y 16x
+

=
+ +


f 1 a1
y 2x
1
4
m 1 m 1 137.9 kg flue gas / kg fuel
12 y 16x

+

= + = +
+ +

Taking in account the moisture (Hu) and the mineral matter (As) , the hereunder expressions
are to be written for the raw fuel :

a1 a1 a1 a1
f 1 f 1 f 1 a1
V [1 ( As ) ( Hu )] V , m [1 ( As ) ( Hu )] m ,
V [1 ( As ) ( Hu )] V 1.262 ( Hu ) , m 1 [1 ( As ) ( Hu )] m .

= =

= + = +

For any actual combustion process, an air-excess factor is needed to ensure complete
combustion. Therefore, the actual air demand and the flue gas production are to be written :

a a1 a a1 f f 1 a1
V V , m m , V V ( 1)V = = = + .
The practical values to be derived from the here-above formulae for typical ligno-cellulosic
materials, with y = 1.44 and x = 0.66 are :

3 3 3
a1 N N a1 N
3 3 3
f 1 N N f 1 N
V 4.61 m dry air / m dry fuel , m 5.92 kg dry air / m dry fuel
V 5.29 m flue gases / m dry fuel , m 6.92 kg flue gases / m dry fuel

= =

= =

considering the fuel as being dry and without mineral matter.
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 6
2. COMBUSTION STEPS AND COMBUSTION CONTROL
2.1. Some fundamentals about biomass fuels combustion
The combustion process for an actual biomass fuel / oxidizer system is of course more
complicated than the behaviour of the "pure gaseous system" or of the "simple
carbon/oxygen" system. For an homogeneous gaseous phase fuel/oxidizer system, such as the
H
2
/ O
2
or the CH
4
/ O
2
system, the combustion process essentially involves chain reactions
carried by radicals such as OH, H, O, ... . For the heterogeneous solid/gaseous phase C /O
2

system, the main combustion process essentially involves CO formation by adsorption-
desorption phenomena on active carbon sites, followed by homogeneous gaseous phase
oxidation. For solid fuels, devolatilisation and thermal decomposition always lead to an
heterogeneous solid-gas fuel system, in which the importance of the gaseous phase depends
on the balance between the so called "volatile matter" content and the "fixed carbon" of the
fuel.
The ligno-cellulosic biomass fuels have a relatively high (80 %) volatile content and a
significant (20 %) fixed carbon content. During the combustion, both oxidation processes
(homogeneous and heterogeneous) may be in competition as illustrated fig. 1.

Figure 1
CH
y
O
x
Pyrolysis
CH
s
CO
2
H
2
O
C
n
H
m
CO H
2
Oxidation
O
2
O
2

Oxidation
CH
s
Reduction
CO H
2
O
2
Oxidation O
2

CO
2
H
2
O

C
n
H
m
CO H
2
CH
s
CO H
2
CH
s
CH
s
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 7
This first global approach shows the main interlaced steps of the combustion process.
At a temperature of about 200 C (for the most complex and thus the least stable
compounds) to about 500 C (for the simplest and consequently the most stable
compounds), a thermal cracking or pyrolysis initially decomposes the fuel, forming
radicals. The so formed radicals can lead to gaseous (possibly condensable) recombination
products of and/or solids products.
The gaseous products consist of hydrocarbon chains (C
n
H
m
,) still being able to include
radicals ; for biomass fuels which contain oxygen, the gaseous products comprise a
fraction of partial oxidation (CO, H
2
) and of complete oxidation (CO
2
, H
2
O) species.
The solid products, only formed by complex fuels, consist of a coke or char, which is
carbon-rich compound (CH
s
); this coke appears as a porous skeleton image of the
original structure of the fuel ; for pulverized fuels, spongy particles or cenospheres, are
formed, whereas embers result from big pieces of fuels.
The reaction of the pyrolysis products with oxygen then gives place to a first phase of
oxidation. At this level the so called "primary" oxygen is reacting as follows.
The oxidation of the gas compounds involves chain reactions whose active elements
are radicals which are chain carriers responsible of a flame combustion if the
flammability limits are locally met. The flame structure depends on the formation on
the mixture between the fuel gas fraction and the locally available oxygen.
The oxidation of the char needs the adsorption of O
2
by the active sites of the porous
char surface, forming adsorbed C(O) from which CO is desorbed to burn then in
gaseous phase.
If these oxidation processes are incomplete, one may obtains the following products.
Residual pyrolysis gases or partial oxidation products resulting from the lack of
reactivity or "quenching" at low temperature.
Solid long chain of carbon and hydrogen (in a ratio close to CH
0.2
) forming soot,
synthesized from the ultimate gaseous residues of the fuel at high temperature without
oxygen.
The carbon of the solid products resulting from oxygen lacking can react with the
surrounding oxidation products CO
2
and H
2
O, in a reduction step forming CO and H
2
. If
the temperature is sufficient, the solid phase can thus completely disappear. The so
obtained gas phase includes thus a still combustible fraction .
If necessary, in particular when the combustion process leads to the primary formation of
a still combustible gas, a second oxidation step is needed, using additional or secondary
oxygen, to obtain finally complete oxidation products and therefore to transform into heat
the whole heating value of the fuel.
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 8
From these considerations, it can be said that a successful combustion of a solid fuel such as a
ligno-cellulosic fuel requires at least the following conditions
The gaseous pyrolysis products must form a flammable mixture with air, and this mixture
must be heated (locally or globally) up to the ignition (critical) temperature. Moreover, if
this gaseous mixture is flammable but lacking in air, secondary air must be added without
freezing the system, to completely oxidize the gaseous phase emerging from the fuel.
The solid particles of char must form a bed or a suspension able to completely react with
oxygen. This can be achieved efficiently only if the pyrolysis gaseous phase leave the
solid phase free for landing of oxidizing species on the active carbon surface. The locally
formed CO must be burned in a subsequent combustion step, using secondary air.
The above considerations may be illustrated fig. 2, showing the combustion arrangement of a
45 MW
th
superheated steam generator burning wood and bark chips on a moving grate.

Figure 2
The primary air supply is distributed under the grate, to ensure the flame pyrolysis and rich
combustion of the pyrolysis gases (upper part of the grate) and to completely burn the char
(lower part of the grate). the secondary air is distributed at the throat of the combustion
chamber, to completely oxidize the partial oxidation products emerging from the primary
zone. A flue gas recirculation is installed at intermediate zones is for NO
x
emissions
abatement.
2.2. Checking the combustion by the flue gas analysis
Assuming that the combustion of a ligno-cellulosic fuel leads only to gaseous products
excluding residual quenching gases, i.e. assuming that flammability conditions of the
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 9
pyrolysis gases is ensured and that no flying carbon is passing through the system, one may
write the stoechiometry of the fuel combustion (moisture included) as follows :

y x 2 2 2 0 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2
CH O z H O w( O 3.76N ) a O a CO a CO b H b H O 3.76wN + + + + + + + + . (2)
The conservation equations of the species may be written :
carbon conservation :
1 2
a a 1 + = (3)
hydrogen conservation :
1 2
y
b b z
2
+ = + (4)
oxygen conservation :
0 1 2 2
z
2a a 2 a b 2 w x
2
+ + + = + + (5)
By combining the second and the third of these relations, one eliminates b
2
and z, what leads
to the remaining system:

1 2
a a 1 + = (6)

1 0 1 2
y
b 2a a 2 a 2 w x
2
+ = (7)
The stoechiometric coefficients a
0
, a
1
, a
2
, b
1
and w are related as follows to the volumic
fractions [ ]' of the dry gas obtained, by the relations :

0 1
2 0 1 2 1
a a
[ O ] , [ CO] , ... , with a a a b 3.76w


= = = + + + + .
Therefore, the here-above system may be rewritten as follows :

2
2 2 2 2
1
[ CO] [ CO ]

2 y 2x
[ H ] [ CO] 2[ CO ] 2[ O ] [ N ]
3.76 2

+ =

+ =

Eliminating and replacing [N
2
]' by the closure equation :

2 2 2 2
[ N ] 1 [ O ] [ CO] [ CO ] [ H ]

= ,
one obtains the following linear equation or compatibility equation between the volume
fractions of the dry flue gases :

2 2 2
y 2x y 2x
4.76[ O ] ( 2.88 3.76 )[ CO] ( 4.76 3.76 )[ CO ] 0.88[ H ] 1
4 4


+ + + + = .(8)
Considering the gaseous species CO, H
2
, CO
2
and H
2
O only existing locally at high
temperature without O
2
, the following chemical equilibrium must be taken into account :

2 2 2
CO H CO H O + +
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 10
and this equilibrium becomes "frozen" when the temperature is decreasing under ... 850 ... C
at the value :

2
2 2
[ CO][ H O]
2
[ CO ][ H ]
.
Considering the coefficients a
1
and b
1
as normally small compared to a
2
and b
2
, one may take
from (3) and (4) the approximations :

2 2
y
a 1 and b z
2
= + ,
what leads to write for the frozen equilibrium :

2 1 2 1
2 2 2 1 1 2
[ CO][ H O] a b a y y [ CO]
( z ) ( z ) 2
[ CO ][ H ] a b 2 b 2 [ H ]
= + = +
from which results the following ratio between
2
[ H ]

and [ CO]

:

2
[ H ] y 2z
( )
[ CO] 4

+
=

.
The compatibility equation may thus be considered as a linear relation between the three
independent parameters
2 2
[ O ] ,[ CO] and [ CO ]

:
2 2
y 2x y 2z y 2x
4.76[O ] ( 2.88 3.76( ) 0.88 )[CO] ( 4.76 3.76 )[CO ] 1
4 4 4
+

+ + + + = . (9)
This linear relation describes the plan (
2
space) of the possible compositions in the of the
3
space {[O2]' [CO]' [CO2]'} , as illustrated fig. 3.

Figure 3
[CO]
[O
2
]
[CO
2
]
Q
R
P
O
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 11
The summit coordinates of this composition plan are the following :

2 P
2 Q
R
1
[ CO ]
y 2x
4.76 3.76
4
1
[ O ]
4.76
1
[ CO]
y 2x y 2 z
2.88 3.76 0.88
4 4
=

+
=
=
+
+

The use of the compatibility equation (9) makes it possible to determine any of these three
volume fractions knowing the two others. It is thus possible to obtain a complete diagnosis of
the combustion of a fuel of parameters y and x known thanks to the measurement of two of
the three fractions.
In the past, it was made use for combustion diagnosis of simple chemical apparatus based on
selective absorbers, or of more expensive instruments based on physical properties to measure
[O2]' and [CO2] or [CO]' and [CO2]' . The electronic miniaturization made it possible today
to develop simple and non expensive apparatus using electrochemical cells based on the
Nernst cell to measure the values of [O2]' and [CO]'. Theses measurement systems includes a
microchip which then makes it possible to display the calculated content [CO2]' in addition
to the directly measured values of the contents [O2]' and [CO]' .
It will be noted finally that if the value of two of the three volume fractions constitutes a
satisfying information for industrial or for checking purposes, it may be desirable, in the case
of reference measurement, to have the redundant measurement of the three volume fractions,
which makes it possible to minimize the uncertainty of the diagnosis by making use of
adequate mathematical methods such as the method of least squares.
2.3. The partial oxidation coefficient and the air excess coefficient
The ratio of the air coefficient w of the actual stoechiometry of the combustion to the air
coefficient
y 2x
( 1 )
4

+ of the theoretical stoechiometry of the combustion is the air excess

coefficient :

w

y 2x
( 1 )
4

+
. (10)
Similarly, a partial oxidation coefficient k may be defined as the ratio :

1
2 1 2
a [ CO]
k
[ CO] [ CO ] a a

=

+ +
(11)
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 12
Using these definitions and the conservation equations (6) and (7), one may rewrite the
general equation (2) as follows :

y x 2 2 2
2 2
2
2 2
y 2x
CH O z H O ( 1 )( O 3.76N )
4
y 2 z
kCO ( 1 k )CO k( )H
4
y 2x k y 2z
[( 1)( 1 ) ( 1 )]O
4 2 4
k y 2 z y 2x
( 1 )( )H O 3.76 ( 1 ) N
2 2 4

+ + + +
+
+ +
+
+ + + +
+
+ + +
(12)
form this last equation, one may write the following expression :

2
2
[ O ] y 2 x k y 2 z
( 1)( 1 ) ( 1 )
[ CO ] [ CO] 4 2 4

+
= + + +

+
,
which may be rewritten by use of the k coefficient (11):

2
2
1 y 2 z
[ O ] ( 1 )[ CO]
2 4
1
y 2x
( 1 )([ CO ] [ CO] )
4
+

+
=

+ +
. (13)
The accurate determination of the air excess coefficient by means of (13) postulates the
measurement of at least two of the three volume fractions {[O2]' [CO]' [CO2]'} by
independent ways, the third of these volume fractions being deduced from both others by the
compatibility equation (9). A better accuracy may of course be obtained by the direct
measurement of the three volume fractions. If one may only measure to two of the volume
fractions, the {[O2]' [CO]'} pair is the most adequate since it provides the most significant
calculation of the third volume fractions by means of the compatibility equation (9).
3. THE OSWALD DIAGRAM AND THE AIR EXCESS OPTIMISATION
3.1. The Oswald diagram
The OSWALD diagram of a combustion (fig.2) illustrates in the { [CO2]' [O2]'} coordinates
some of the particular lines related to the flue gases composition. The relations (11) and (13),
can be rewritten in the following forms, linear in {[O2]' [CO]' [CO2]'}:

2
k
[ CO] [ CO ]
1 k

=

(14)

2 2
y 2x y 2x 1 y 2z
( 1)( 1 )[CO ] [( 1)( 1 ) (1 )][CO] [O ] 0
4 4 2 4
+

+ + + + + = . (15)
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 13
These relations are the equations of the plans k = C
st
and = C
st
in the {[O2]' [CO]' [CO2]'}
3
space. Projecting in the {[CO2]' [O2]'} plan the intersections of the (14) and (15) plans
with the composition plan (9), one obtains straight lines constituting the required remarkable
lines, as illustrated fig. 4 .
Figure 4
The line PQ is the line of complete combustion k = 0 with the following remarkable
points :
point P, characterized by [O
2
]' = 0 and [CO]' = 0, corresponds to a complete
combustion (k = 0) without air in excess ( = 1) and is located at the coordinates :

2 P 2 P
1
[ CO ] , [ O ] 0
y 2x
4.76 3.76( )
4

= =

+
.
point Q, characterized by [CO2]' = 0 and [CO]' = 0 , corresponds to an infinite air
excess and thus corresponds to any coefficient k of unburned products and in
particular with that k = 0. Its coordinates are :

2 Q 2 Q
1
[ CO ] 0 , [ O ]
4.76

= =
The line PS of stoechiometry = 1, with following remarkable points:
Point P corresponds to k = 0 and = 1 , as already described here-above
point S corresponds to k = 1 and = 1 and is located on the [O2]' axis, since its
coordinates are :

2 S 2 S
1 y 2z
( 1 )
2 4
[ CO ] 0 , [ O ]
3 y 2z y 2x
( 1 ) 3.76( 1 )
2 4 4
+
+

= =
+
+ + +

0 5 10 15 20
15



10



5

% CO
2
% O
2
Q
S
P
k = 0
k = 1
= 1
L
F
M
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 14
The line SQ of partial oxidation k = 1, is a portion of the [O2]' axis.
Any normal combustion must lead to a figurative point located in triangle PQS, as close as
possible of point P if one wishes to minimize the excess of air to obtain flue gases as hot as
possible, while remaining on line PQ of complete combustion.
Therefore :
point L, located on line PQ, meets the requirement of complete combustion, but it
corresponds to a important air excess or lean burn combustion. Except for particular
technological reasons (low temperature asked for the use of the flue gases, abatement of
pollutants,), such a point will normally not be retained like standard adjustment.
point M is obtained by decreasing the air excess coefficient compared to that
corresponding to the point L and will be preferred for applications where the character of
not diluted flue gases is desirable, that is to say for thermodynamic reasons
(transformation of heat into driving work, transfer of heat,), or for energy reasons
(minimization of flows carrying heat, heat losses at the chimney, minimization of the
ventilation power,).
point F corresponds to a rich combustion. Obtained by reducing the air excess near = 1,
it does not meet the requirement of complete combustion and must be rejected. It
corresponds indeed to the production of carbon monoxide CO which is at the same time a
highly toxic compound and a fuel gas from which the LHV is lost.
3.2. The optimization of the air excess
The thermal quality of a combustion decreases at high values of , since the dilution of the
flue gases by the air excess reduces the available temperature. On the one hand, a low
temperature has an unfavorable effect on the kinetics of the combustion itself, and a large air
excess may paradoxally lead to an incomplete combustion characterized by solid or
condensable emissions, by quenching effect. On the other hand, a low temperature of the flue
gases before heat exchange, needs a large size of the heat exchanger and means a low
efficiency of the energy use, by increasing the relative exhaust losses which may be assumed
to be at a constant temperature at the chimney.
The need for a global air excess as small as possible appears therefore as an evidence.
However, using a statistical reasoning about the air distribution, one may conclude that the
unburned fraction k depends on the mean value and on the local deviations of , i.e. on the
possible misdistribution of the air surrounding the fuel.
This distribution may be characterized by means of a probability density p(
loc
) of the locally
defined air excess
loc
. One of the simplest laws for such a distribution is the rectangular
function:
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 15

loc loc
1
p( ) for ( 1 ) ( 1 )
2
= < < + (16)
Figure 5
This distribution (fig. 5) has a mean value and a standard deviation

3
.
One may obtain from this distribution function the following results :
if
1

1
<
+
(fig. 5a), the fraction of the fuel burning at an air excess < 1 is f
<1
= 1.
The oxygen O
2
is thus completely consumed and by identifying to zero its coefficient in
the general equation (12) , one obtains :

y 2x
1
4
k 2( 1 )
y 2z
1
4

+
=
+
+
;
if
1

1
>

(fig. 5c), the fraction of the fuel burning at an air excess < 1 is f
<1
= 0.
The fuel being completely oxidized, one obtains :
k 0 = ;
if
1 1

1 1

+
(fig. 5b) , the fraction of the fuel burning at an air excess < 1 is :

1
1 ( 1 )
f
2
<

=
and the mean value of for this fraction is :

1
1
( 1 ( 1 ))
2
<
= + ;
p(
loc
) p(
loc
)
p(
loc
)

loc
loc
loc






1

1

1

(1-)

(1-)

(1+)

a b
c
(1+)

BIOMASS COMBUSTION 16
what leads for this fraction to a partial oxidation coefficient :

1 1
y 2x y 2x
1 1
4 4
k 2( 1 ) ( 1 ( 1 ))
y 2z y 2z
1 1
4 4
< <

+ +
= =
+ +
+ +

and finally to a global partial oxidation coefficient :

2
y 2x
1
( 1 ( ))
4
k
y 2z
2
1
4

+

=
+
+

The diagram fig. 6 illustrates the evolution of [CO2]', [O
2
]' and [CO]' versus , as computed
following the here-above theory, with = 0.4, this last value corresponding to a non
optimized air distribution in a grate combustion system.

Figure 6
With this distribution, at = 1, for a dry biomass fuel, one obtains :
[CO
2
]' = 0.170, [CO]' = 0.028, [H
2
]' = 0.013 and [O
2
]' = 0.020.
The CO content of the flue gases is of course! unacceptable.
The complete oxidation of the fuel is only obtained in the case fig. 4c , i.e. for asufficient air
excess, depending on the misdistribution factor :

1

1
>

For a misdistribution factor = 0.4, an air excess coefficient > 1.67 must be used,
corresponding to [CO
2
]'= 0.122 and [O
2
]'= 0.084. This air excess may only be reduced by
optimizing the air distribution, e.g. by improving the balance between primary air and
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
[CO
2
]
[O
2
]
[CO]
[ ]

BIOMASS COMBUSTION 17
secondary air, or by controlling the thickness of the fuel bed on the combustion grate.
However, the heterogeneous distribution of the biomass fuel (size of the biomass pieces,
varying moisture, ... , makes it really difficult to reduce the misdistribution factor lower than
= ...0.3..., what needs a minimum air excess value > ... 1.4 ... .
4. ENERGY TRANSFER EFFICIENCY
4.1. About heat transfer
In order to obtain good fuel economy in a system transferring the heat produced by
combustion to a secondary heat carrier , such as in a boiler e.g. , the primary heat carrier (i.e.
the flue gases of the combustion process) must leave the heat exchanger at a temperature as
low as possible, i.e. at a temperature closed to the lowest temperature of the secondary (or
heated) fluid. In order to meet objective, the heat transfer coefficient must be as high as
possible and the flow-sheet of the heat exchanger must correspond to a counter flow system,
at least for the final stages of the exchange. If the lowest temperature of the heated fluid is
quit high, an combustion air pre-heater recovering as ultimately as possible the sensible heat
of the flue gas is generally used. The general arrangement fig. 7 of a steam generator is a
classical example of those considerations.

Figure 7
The three well known mechanisms of heat transfer are involved in the several sections of such
a boiler i.e. :
conduction, in which the heat energy is handed on from molecule to molecule,
convection, which carries the heat by movement of a fluid,
radiation, which is a transmission of vibration energy through empty space.
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 18
The conductive heat transfer is only of importance in connection with solids, since its
function as a mechanism of heat transfer is completely swamped by that of convection in the
case of gases and usually also in the case of liquids or two-phase fluids. The basic equation
for heat transfer by conduction through a solid body is :
grad( t ) =
which is a proportional relation between the heat flux , i.e. the quantity of heat flowing per
unit time through the unit of area of a conducting body, the thermal conductivity of this
solid and the local gradient of the temperature in the direction normal to the considered area.
The difficulty in the way of a full calculation of the heat flux through a conducting system of
complex geometry lies only in the impossibility to solve analyticallly the partial derivative
equations of the thermal field except in case of very simple shapes and without anisoptropy of
the thermal properties. However, a lot of FEM software are available to numerically solve this
problem.
In a boiler, the most important problems related (directly or not) to heat conduction problems
involve :
the consequences of the high density of heat flux through the tubes, mainly at the
viewpoint of the thermal stresses due to high local temperature gradients in the two-
phase flow area (boiler sections V
1
and V
2
)
the thermal limit of plasticity of the used alloy due to excessively high local
temperature levels (superheating tubes S).
the chemical resistance against the ashes for the refractory and insulating materials
used to minimize the heat losses (external wall, especially surrounding the high
temperature sections V
1
S and V
2

the de-rating of the heat transfer due to the fouling of surfaces concerned by the heat
exchange (economizer section E)
The convective heat transfer is very closely bound up with the laws of fluid mechanics.
This similarity has led to apply dimensionless criteria for solving the typical problems of
convection. The main physical characteristics to be combined in convection heat transfer
phenomena are :
D : a length characterizing the system,
g : the acceleration due to gravity,
t : a bulk temperature difference (fluid - wall),
: the specific (volumic) mass of the fluid,
: the coefficient of thermal expansion of the fluid,
: the thermal conductivity of the fluid,
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 19
: the dynamic viscosity of the fluid,
c
p
: the specific (mass) heat of the fluid,
c : a local, bulk or superficial velocity of the fluid.
Four main dimensionless number may be appear in the fundamental laws related to the
convection laws, i.e. the NSSELT number Nu , the PRANDTL number Pr , the GRASHOF
number Gr and the REYNOLDS number Re :

3 2
p p
c D g c t
D c D
Nu , Pr , Gr , Re
t
.
For natural convection problems, the Grashof number takes in account the physical
parameters causing the movement of the fluid which is carrying the heat, i.e. the difference of
density in different parts of the fluid. Several correlations of the type :

m n
Nu aGr Pr = ,
are available, where a , m and n are numerical constant defined for well defined fields of
values of the Gr number or of the product Gr Pr. They have been developed from results of
various workers for the convection near horizontal cylinders, vertical or horizontal surfaces
facing up- or downwards, ... . The problems of natural convection are not the most important
in the case of heat exchange between hot gases and inner walls or tubes of a boiler, except in
the big combustion chambers for pulverised fuel or suspension combustion. However, natural
convection remains an interesting problem for the evaluation of heat losses of the external
walls of a boiler to the surrounding atmosphere.
For forced convection problems, where the velocity of the fluid is induced by external causes
(such as pumps, fans, ...), the Reynolds number appears as playing the major role in the heat
transfer phenomena. A number of systems have been extensively studied.
For the forced convection between a fluid flowing at right angle across the outside of a
cylinder, the following correlation are convenient for this case :

n
Nu b a Re = + ,
with b= 0.3 , a = 0.4 and n = 0.5 for 0.1 < Re < 10
3

and b = 0 , a = 0.2 and n = 0.6 for 10
3
<Re < 10
5
.
For the forced convection between a tube and a fluid flowing inside the tube, the
following correlation is well known for this case :

n m
Nu a Re Pr = ,
with a = 0.021 , m = 0.8 and n = 0.4 for Re> 2000 .
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 20
The radiation heat transfer results from the fundamental law known as "Stefan's law",
which is the expression of the total amount of the density of the heat flux radiated in all
directions by a perfect radiating body, (the "black body"), at an absolute temperature T :

4
T =
The Stefan's coefficient a has the value 57 10
-9
W/m
2
. K
4
.
Accordingly to the first law of thermodynamics, in all cases when the temperature of a body
is not changing by other effects, the sum of the total heat falling on its surface is equal to the
sum of the absorption, reflection and transmission. The ratios of these three terms to the total
heat are called absortivity a, reflectivity r and transmissivity t. For liquids and solids, t is
generally near or equal to 0. For gases, r = 0. In any case, one may write the here-above first
law as :
a r t 1 + + = .
The ratio between the heat radiated by an actual body and the perfect black body at the same
temperature is defined as the emissivity coefficient e of this body. Solids radiate over all
wavelengths and their emissivity doesn't depend on their temperature (except if the
temperature affects the superficial structure). From the second law of thermodynamics, it can
be shown that the emissivity e of such bodies is equal to their absorptivity a (Kirchhoff's law).
For non-diatomic gases (i.e. CO
2
and H
2
O in the flue gases), which radiate only in bands in
the infra-red, the emissivity decreases at high temperatures and the identity between e and a is
no more valid.
The total radiation from a non-black body having an emissivity e is :

4
eT = .
If such a body is surrounded with other bodies at temperature T
s
and if it is very small
compared to its surroundings, the net density of heat flux to these surroundings will be :

4 4
s
e( T T ) = .
If the radiated body is nearly as large as the surrounding objects and these have an emissivity
e
s
and an absortivity a
s
, the net density of heat flux will be :

4 4
s s s
s s
e a T e aT

e e ee

=
+
.
For two bodies of the Kirchhoff type, this expression becomes :

4 4 s
s
s s
ee
( T T )
e e ee
=
+
.
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 21
The here-above laws have a direct practical importance in the estimation of the actual
temperature of the combustion products surrounding the combustion zone, in the case of a bed
of char, or in the case of an highly radiative diffusion flame containing char particles.
4.2. Actual combustion temperature and energy use efficiency
The so called combustion temperature is the temperature of the combustion products leaving
the combustion zone. If the combustion were an adiabatic process, i.e. if no radiative heat
exchange occurred during the combustion, and if the combustion were successfully achieved,
the flue gases would leave the combustion zone at the so called adiabatic combustion
temperature t
f
. This temperature is easy to compute by the energy balance :

f p f f a p a a
m c t m c t LHV = ,
where c
fp
denote the mean specific heat of flue gases at the temperature t

and the and c

ap
the
mean specific heat of the air at the temperature t
a
. The adiabatic combustion temperature is
therefore :

a pa a
f
f p f
m c t LHV
t
m c
+
= .
The thermal quality of the combustion, i.e. the level of temperature of the flue gases, appears
here clearly as a decreasing function of the air excess , through the flue gases mass m
f
. This
thermal quality appears as significantly improved by air preheating, through t
a
.
If the combustion zone is a bed of char surrounded by the walls of the combustion chamber,
assumed to be at a temperature t
s
, the here-above energy balance, written in terms of flux, is
modified by the radiative term which must be taken in account to obtain the actual
temperature of combustion t
c
as follows :

f p f c a pa a C
m c t A m c t m LHV + = + .
In this relation,
f
m is the mass flow of the flue gases,
a
m is the mass flow of the air,
C
m is
the mass flow of the fuel and is the heat flux from the radiative area A of the bed.
Dividing then both members of the here-above energy balance by the mass flow of the fuel,
and using the mean specific heat, one obtains the following equation :

f p f c a pa a
C
A
m c t m c t LHV
m
+ = +

which is an implicit equation vs. t
c
, since the combustion temperature would appears (at
power 4) in the radiative term. It is obvious from this equation that the temperature of the flue
gases leaving the bed and consequently the temperature of the top of the bed itself, depends
on the mass flux
C
m / A of the fuel, what may be of importance on the flexibility of the boiler
vs. any change in the power demand.
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 22
Using for instance the several here-above expressions for a combustion of a 20 % moisture
raw fuel with a constant air excess = 1.67, one obtains approximately an adiabatic
combustion temperature t
f
= 1375 C.
Using then the here-above expression of the density of radiative heat flux between two black
bodies, and assuming for instance a wall temperature t
s
= 525C , one obtains the following
temperatures of the bed for several mass fluxes of the fuel :
2
C
m / A ( kg / s.m )
0.10 0.05 0.025
2
Q/ A ( kW / m )

1400 700 350

C
t ( C )
1200 1115 1005

If it is important to correctly predict the actual temperature of combustion for several reasons
as emissions or heat flux distribution, the concept of adiabatic combustion temperature
remains very convenient as far as only the heat use efficiency is concerned, since this concept
leads to a simple expression of the energetic efficiency of the boiler.
Whatever appends in terms of radiative heat exchange, the available heat per kg fuel
corresponds to its available LHV, i.e. the value of
LHV ref
LHV , whereas the actually used heat
for the heating-boiling-superheating process, corresponds to the drop of sensible heat from the
adiabatic temperature t
f
to the exhaust temperature t
b
of the flue gases leaving the heating-
boiling-superheating section. This last temperature is necessarily higher than the lowest
temperature of the heated fluid, i.e. the imposed inlet temperature of water : it is therefore
obvious that the heat use efficiency is as much higher as the adiabatic flame temperature is
high.
Since the energy balance of the air preheater may be written as follows :

a pa a pa 0 f p f b p f e
m ( c t c t ) m ( c t c t ) = ,
where t
e
denotes the exhaust (or chimney) temperature of the flue gases, the value of the
energy use efficiency
E

may be written following the equivalent expressions :

f pf e a pa 0 f p f b a pa a
E
m c t m c t m c t m c t
1 1
LHV LHV

= =
Preheating the air leads therefore to energy saving by decreasing the exhaust temperature.
However, the use of an air pre-heater is to be considered only if the temperature level at the
chimney is not too low (e.g. regarding acid condensations), if the water inlet temperature is
high enough (investment efficiency) and if the thermal stresses on the inlet mouth are
acceptable
BIOMASS COMBUSTION 23
4.3. General design of a biomass boiler and ashes management
If it seems easy to efficiently burn biomass, the efficient use of the sensible heat of the flue
gases may appear more difficult, even for low mineral content biomass. The main difficulty
lies in the low fusion temperature of the alkaline ashes characterizing a lot of biomass fuels.
And the problem becomes more complicated with chlorine and other agressive mineral
compounds naturally present in or added to the fuel... .
Without using an appropriate design, the maintenance costs of the boiler could be really
prohibitive, due to multiple stop and go phases needed by excessive fouling of the installation,
as illustrated by the picture fig. 8 of a fouled horizontal superheater in a 15 MW
th
steam
generator. .

Figure 8
A general well oriented design of a biomass fuelled boiler of about 45 MW
th
producing

superheated steam (425 C, 3.7 MPa) to be expanded in a turbine producing 13 MW
el
, is
shown fig.9. The specific aspect of this biomass oriented design are :
moderate temperature of the superheated steam to avoid concrete formation by liquid
flying ashes condensation, unfortunately easily obtained with alkaline ashes characterizing
a lot of biomass fuels ;
grate combustion system with optical measurement of the fuel thickness controlling the
primary air distribution ;
flue gas monitoring controlling the total air distribution into primary and secondary air ;
radiative combustion chamber (boiler section) including a settling chamber and a receiver
for extracting a maximum of flying ashes from the flue gas before the superheater section;

BIOMASS COMBUSTION 24

Figure 9
vertical arrangement of the superheater tubes to minimize the clogging by the flying ashes
and to facilitate the ashes dropping in the removal section during the cleaning phases by
steam blowing ;
similar arrangement for the economizer section ;
cycloning of the flue gases before final cleaning using bag filters
Several others designs may be discussed, depending as well on the thermal level of the output
(hot water, saturated or superheated steam, ...) as on the biomass fuel quality (moisture limits,
mineral content, thermo-mechanical behaviour, size distribution of the mechanically crunched
fuel, ...) . The diversity of the solutions just reflects the diversity of the biomass fuels even if
their main composition, based on ligno-celluloses, does not appear as really different.