Combustion Instability and Ash Agglomeration in Wood Pellets Boiler

Lelis Fraga (), Eduardo Ferreira, Pedro Ribeiro, Carlos Castro, Jorge Martins and José C. Teixeira ()
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Lelis Fraga: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, Rua Formosa 10, Dili 314, Timor-Leste
Eduardo Ferreira: MEtRICs, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering School, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Pedro Ribeiro: MEtRICs, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering School, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Carlos Castro: MEtRICs, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering School, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Jorge Martins: MEtRICs, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering School, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
José C. Teixeira: MEtRICs, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering School, University of Minho, Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: The combustion instability and ash agglomeration in a wood pellet boiler were investigated in this study. The tests were conducted using the Taguchi method of orthogonal array L 27 (13 3 ). Several parameters are applied, including grate area (GA), primary to secondary air split ratio (SR), excess air (EA), and fuel power (P). Pine wood pellets were used, and the boiler’s nominal load was 20 kW. The results show that instability during combustion occurs since the fuel bed rises as the accumulation of the unburned wood pellets on the grate causes a slow combustion rate and pressure drop, which creates noise and disturbances. A good combination of the parameters applied to TN9 and TN20 can be useful in obtaining stable combustion. In addition, the ash agglomerations were influenced by the duration of the combustion and the temperature of the fuel bed. The largest size of the ash agglomeration was referred to as test number-TN26 (P: 16 kW, EA: 110%, SR: 30/70, and GA: 115 mm × 75 mm), which is 59 mm, and the duration time is 14,400 s (≈4 h).

Keywords: combustion instability; ash agglomeration; wood pellet; boiler (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: 2023
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