Effect of Harvest Season on the Fuel Properties of Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby Biomass as Solid Biofuel

Nikola Bilandžija, Tajana Krička, Ana Matin, Josip Leto and Mateja Grubor
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Nikola Bilandžija: Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tajana Krička: Department of Agricultural Technology, Storage and Transport, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Ana Matin: Department of Agricultural Technology, Storage and Transport, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Josip Leto: Department of Field Crops, Forage and Grassland, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Mateja Grubor: Department of Agricultural Technology, Storage and Transport, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Biomass obtained from cultivated energy crops is one of the raw materials with the highest potential in renewable energy production. Although such biomass can be used in production of lignocellulose bioethanol, it is currently mostly used as solid fuel for generating heat and/or electric energy via combustion processes. Calorific values, proximate and ultimate analysis, cell structure and micro- and macro-elements data are considered as basic parameters in the valorization of fuel properties during biomass combustion processes. Energy crops are cultivated with the aim to produce the largest possible quantity of biomass with minimal agro-technical inputs. One of these crops is Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby. Given the fact that the chemical composition of biomass is influenced by a number of agro-ecological and agro-technical factors, the aim of this work was to determine the fuel properties of Sida hermaphrodita biomass obtained from three different harvest seasons (autumn, winter and spring) and cultivated in the area of the Republic of Croatia. On the basis of these investigations it was possible to conclude that harvest delaying towards spring season had a positive impact on suitability of using biomass of Sida hermaphrodita in the combustion process, which primarily means significant lowering the contents of moisture (18.64%), ash (1.94%), and nitrogen (0.65%), but also means increasing the contents of fixed carbon (6.21%) and lignin (25.45%).

Keywords: perennial energy crop; delayed harvest; combustion properties; cell wall composition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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