Co-firing of sugar cane bagasse with rice husk in a conical

fluidized-bed combustor
V.I. Kuprianova,*, K. Janvijitsakula, W. Permchartb
a

Mechanical Engineering Program, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, P.O. Box 22, Pathumthani 12121, Thailand
b
Department of Agricultural Engineering, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology, Lardkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand

Abstract
This paper presents experimental results on co-firing of as-received sugar cane bagasse and rice husk in a conical fluidized-bed
combustor (FBC) using silica sand as the bed material. Axial temperature, O2, CO2, CO and NO concentration profiles in the conical FBC
operated at 82.582.8 kg/h fuel feed rate and various values of excess air (of about 40, 60, 80 and 100%) for different rice husk energy
fractions (of 0.60, 0.85 and 1.0) are discussed. The bed temperature, CO and NO emissions from the combustor, as well as the heat losses and
combustion efficiency, are also provided for the above operating conditions. The axial temperature profiles in the conical FBC were almost
independent of excess air but noticeably affected by the rice husk energy fraction. The CO emissions were found to reduce for higher values
of excess air and rice husk energy fractions. Meanwhile, the NO concentrations at all the points over the combustor volume and, accordingly,
NO emissions from the reactor increased with higher excess air and energy contributions by rice husk. The co-firing of these fuels in the
conical FBC at the rice husk energy fractions greater than 0.6 resulted in the sustainable combustion, with 9596% combustion efficiency,
and lower NO emissions compared with those for firing pure rice husk. Through co-firing with rice husk, an effective use of as-received
sugar cane bagasse becomes feasible for energy conversion in the fluidized-bed combustion systems.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Axial profiles; Temperature; NO and CO emissions; Combustion efficiency

1. Introduction
Sugar cane bagasse and rice husk are important biomass
sources for heat and power generation in Thailand.
Annually, about 50 million tones of sugar cane and 20
million tons of rice are produced in this country.
Accordingly, tremendous amounts of sugar cane bagasse
and rice husk, residues from processing of sugar cane and
rice, are available as energy sources. Despite extensive
utilization of bagasse and rice husk by the Thai milling
companies and industrial sectors, significant amounts of
these biomass fuels are being unused and eventually lost.
Annual losses of bagasse and rice husk in this country are
estimated to be 2.23.5 and 2.33.7 million tones,

* Corresponding author. Tel.:C66 2 986 9009x2008; fax: C66 2 986

9112.
E-mail address: ivlaanov@siit.tu.ac.th (V.I. Kuprianov).

respectively. The corresponding aggregate power generation potential from the unused bagasse and rice husk is
estimated to be 394623 MWe [1]. Research, development
and implementation of high efficiency and environmentally
friendly technologies for energy conversion from these and
other biomass fuels are therefore the key issues in saving
fossil fuels in the Thai energy-related sectors.
A large number of research works have been recently
carried out on the fluidized-bed combustion of rice husk,
sawdust and other agricultural residues. Some literature
references are focused on the effects of operating conditions
(fuel feed rate, excess air) on the temperature pattern,
combustion efficiency and emission characteristics of
fluidized-bed systems fuelled with various agricultural
residues. As shown by the authors, the fluidized-bed
combustion technology represents the most effective and
environmentally friendly technology for conversion of rice
husk into energy [26].
However, there are some problems related to the
fluidized-bed combustion of rice husks with high-ash
contents (20% and up) in relatively short combustors.

Under such conditions, the combustion efficiency of a

reactor is rather low, of 8186%, for different options of the
combustion air supply. These facts are mainly explained by
significant amounts of unburned carbon in the fly ash [2,3].
Unlike the high-ash rice husks, combustion of this biomass
fuel with medium-ash contents (1015%) in systems with
large ratios of the reactor height to the diameter and/or with
a circulating fluidized bed is characterized by higher, up to
98%, combustion efficiencies for wide ranges of operating
conditions [4,5].
Meanwhile, the combustion of rice husk in fluidized-bed
systems is accompanied by significant environmental
impacts. Because of elevated fuel-N, NOx emissions from
conventional fluidized-bed systems are of about 100 to
180 ppm when burning this biomass fuel at the excess air
values of some 20 to 100%, respectively. At low excess air
(less than 40%), CO emission from the rice combustion is
very high (especially, for high-ash rice husks), basically
greater than 5000 ppm, and strongly dependent on excess
air. On the other hand, at excess air above 60%, the CO
emission from the combustor is reduced to 6001100 ppm
and almost independent of this operating variable [26].
Attempts to burn as-received sugar cane bagasse in a
fluidized-bed system are reported to be unsuccessful
because of the high moisture content in raw bagasse.
Moreover, the high fuel moisture and the relatively large
size of the fuel particles (of about 0.4!21 mm on an
average) of this fiber residue cause significant operational
problems associated with fuel feeding. However, after predrying, sugar cane bagasse can be effectively (at about 99%
combustion efficiency) burned with relatively weak
environmental impacts compared to those from the rice
husk combustion [2,7].
This work dealt with an experimental study on cofiring of as-received sugar cane bagasse with rice husk
in a fluidized-bed combustor with the aim of achieving
more effective utilization of these biomass fuels compared
to the firing of each fuel on its own. Effects of the
mass/energy fractions of rice husk in fuel blends and
operating conditions on the emission characteristics and
combustion efficiency of the fluidized-bed combustor were
the focus of this study.

2. Experimental
2.1. Apparatus
Experimental tests were carried out on a laboratory scale
fluidized-bed combustor (FBC) with a cone-shaped bed,
referred to as the conical FBC [2,7,8]. It consisted of two
parts: a conical (lower) section with a 408 cone angle and
1 m height, and a cylindrical (upper) section with 0.9 m
inner diameter and 2 m height. The combustor body was
insulated with 50 mm ceramic-fiber material ensuring
minimized heat losses across the walls.

Silica sand (89.9% SiO2, 7.8% Al2O3) was used as the

bed material in this experimental study. The sand particle
size was secured (by special preparation) in the range from
0.3 to 0.6 mm resulting in the screen size of about 0.45 mm.
With these particle characteristics, the bubbling fluidization
mode is likely to take place in the conical fluidized-bed
systems with cone angles of 30458 [9,10].
For the selected bed material and fluidizing agent (air,
under ambient conditions), the rated minimum fluidization
velocity was estimated by Ref. [11] to be umfz0.2 m/s.
However, for the blends of the bed material with biomass
fuels, the effective minimum fluidization velocity was
expected to be somewhat greater than the above umf value
obtained for the pure bed material [5]. A 25-hp blower
supplied combustion air through the air distributor with
250 mm diameter located at the bottom (lower base) of the
conical part.
A LPG-firing pilot burner was used for preheating the
bed material during the combustor start-up mode. The
burner was fixed 0.6 m above the air distributor and it was
inclined at 458 with respect to the horizontal plane. Upon
attaining the solid-air bed temperature of about 550 8C
(sufficient for sustaining the combustion of major fuel), the
pilot burner was switched off.
Compared with the cylindrical and prismatic fluidizedbed combustors, the conical FBC ensures sustainable
ignition and combustion of distinct biomass fuels at the
less amount of the bed material (which is important for
costly ones) leading to shorter start-up time and, accordingly, saving auxiliary fuel [2,12].
For fuel feeding, the conical FBC was equipped with a
screw-type feeder for delivering biomass fuel over or into
the fluidized bed, depending upon the amount of the bed
material. This feeder was connected to the conical part
0.65 m above the air distributor.
The volume flow rate of air was measured with the use of
a U-tube manometer. At the same time, a Testo-350 gas
analyzer was used for measuring excess oxygen (O2
concentration) in the stack flue gas, i.e. at the exit of the
ash-collecting cyclone installed downstream from the
combustor. The cyclone was designed with 0.4 m body
diameter and 0.15 m bottom diameter of the conical part.
The cylindrical and overall heights of the cyclone were
selected to be 0.6 and 1.6 m, respectively.
The Testo-350 gas analyzer was also employed for
monitoring relevant gas concentrations (O2, CO2, CO and
NO) in the conical FBC. During this procedure, combustion
products were sampled through the holes at different levels
(above the air distributor) along the combustor height. The
relative measurement errors were expected to be 5% for CO
and NO and about 1% for O2 and CO2. For characterization
of the combustor environmental (or emission) performance,
CO and NO concentrations were measured in the stack flue
gas (i.e. at the cyclone exit) as well.
Seven chromelalumel thermocouples (of type K) were
fixed at different levels along the combustor height and at

Table 1
Properties of sugar cane bagasse and rice husk (co-) fired in the experimental tests on the conical FBC (W, fuel-moisture; A, fuel-ash; daf, dry and ash-free;
VM, volatile matter; FC, fixed carbon)
Biomass
fuel
Bagasse
Rice husk

Ultimate analysis (wt%, daf basis)

Proximate analysis (wt%, as-received basis)

VM

FC

42.64
44.99

6.62
6.39

50.48
48.15

0.19
0.42

0.07
0.05

48.80
11.00

2.15
12.99

37.70
58.00

11.35
18.01

the cyclone exit for measuring the temperatures (with a

relative measurement error of about 1%) in the flue gas.
2.2. The fuels
As-received sugar cane bagasse and rice husk were
used in the experimental tests for which the fuels were
blended at different mass/energy proportions.
Table 1 shows the properties of the fuels including the
lower heating value, LHV, the latter being estimated by
Refs. [13,14]. As seen in Table 1, the moisture content in
as-received bagasse is rather high (48.8%). All attempts
to burn the raw sugar cane bagasse as well as the fuel
blends at relatively low values of the rice husk mass
fraction failed in the preliminary tests of the conical FBC,
because of the cooling down of the bed material below
the temperature of stable ignition during the start-up
modes. The blended fuels were, therefore, fired in these
experimental tests at the 75 and 45% rice husk mass
fractions. In addition, the experimental tests for firing pure
rice husk (i.e. at the 100% rice husk mass fraction) were
carried out with the aim of wider comparison of data for
different fuel options.
Table 2 shows the fuel feed rate, FR, effective moisture
in the fuel blend and the rice husk energy fraction, or
proportion of the rice husk contribution to the heat input,
EFrh, for different fuel options (i.e. in effect, for different
rice husk mass fractions) applied in this work. The
effective moisture contents and rice husk energy fractions
provided in Table 2 for the corresponding rice husk mass
fractions were determined using the fuel properties in
Table 1.
2.3. Test planning
Radial temperature and gas concentration profiles in the
conical FBC are reported to be fairly uniform at the
bubbling fluidization mode secured in this combustor under
wide-ranged operating conditions [12]. Axial temperature
and gas concentration profiles were therefore used in this
study in the analyses of combustion and emission patterns in
the reactor.
The static (i.e. related to the static state) bed height, BH,
is reported to have a quite weak influence on the major
combustion characteristics (temperatures and gas concentrations) in the conical FBC fired with different biomass

LHV
(kJ/kg)
6680
12,340

fuels when silica sand is used as the inert bed material [7,8].
For this reason, it was decided to investigate the combustor
operation for only the bed height, BHZ40 cm, in this
experimental study.
Despite apparent effects of the fuel mass fractions of rice
husk and sugar cane bagasse on the feed rate of the blended
fuel (for the particular rpm of the screw feeder), it was
managed to maintain the fuel supply with (near) the same
rate in all the test runs (see Table 2).
Experimental tests were carried out with the aim to
investigate effects of the fuel characteristics (rice husk
energy fraction, EFrh) and operating conditions (percentage
excess air, EA), on the axial temperature and gas
concentration profiles in the conical FBC as well as on the
combustion efficiency and emission performance of the
combustor.
The fuel characteristics for different test runs corresponded to the fuel options given in Table 2; meanwhile, for
each fuel option, the biomass fuel was burned at four
different EA values, of about 40, 60, 80 and 100%.
Note that for all the above fuel options and operating
conditions, the rated operating velocity of air flow (related
to the air distributor area) was greater than the umf. For
instant, for the worst case (firing the fuel blend at EFrhZ
0.6 and EAZ40% with the use of air at the ambient
temperature), the operating velocity was estimated to be
1.7 m/s, thus, leaving the room for the combustor operation
at reduced fuel feed rates. In the upper layers of conical bed,
an increase in the cross-sectional area (actually, leading to
the reduction in the operating velocity) was compensated by
the temperature rise in the combustion tests. Hence, the
bubbling fluidization mode was secured across the bed in all
the test runs.
Table 2
Fuel feed rate, effective fuel moisture and rice husk energy fraction for
different test runs of (co-) firing of bagasse and rice husk in the conical FBC
at different mass fractions of rice husk in the fuel blend
Rice husk mass
fraction in the fuel
blend (wt%)

Fuel feed rate

(kg/h)

Effective fuel
moisture
(wt%)

Rice husk
energy
fraction in the
fuel blend

100
75
45

82.8
82.5
82.7

11.0
17.4
36.9

1.00
0.85
0.60

2.4. Assessment of the combustion heat losses and efficiency

aZ

For co-firing of the bagasse and rice husk with fairly the
same yields of volatile matter on the dry basis, the heat loss
with unburned carbon, quc (LHV%), is assumed to be in the
proportional correlation with EFrh, i.e.
quc Z quc

rh EFrh

C quc b 1KEFrh

For a particular a, the corresponding value of EA (vol%)

can be determined by
EA Z 100aK1

where (quc)rh and (quc)b are the heat loss values for firing
pure rice husk and bagasse, respectively, determined for
both the fuels with the use of carbon contents in the fly ash
as well as the ash contents and LHVs on as-received basis
[13,14].
However, taking account that (quc)b is much lower than
(quc)rh [2] and, also, the relatively low values of (1KEFrh)
for the above operating conditions, the second term in Eq.
(1) can be ignored in the computational assessments of this
heat loss. With such an approach, the volume of the required
experimental data on unburned carbon can be significantly
reduced.
Neglecting H2 and hydrocarbons in the flue gas, the heat
loss owing to incomplete combustion, qic (LHV%), for the
co-firing of the two fuels is found to be [13,14]

qic Z 0:032a !CO100Kquc

hc Z 100Kquc C qic

(7)

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Major combustion characteristics

where CO (vol%) is the carbon monoxide concentration in

the dry flue gas, Vdg (m3/kg) is the volume of the dry flue
gas, and LHV (kJ/kg) is the lower heating value of the fuel
blend.
Assuming that the volume of dry gas is correlated with
the excess air ratio (coefficient), a, and theoretical volume
of air, V0 (m3/kg), by VdgzaV0 [14], Eq. (2) can be
represented as

Fig. 1 depicts the thermal characteristics of the conical

FBC, axial temperature profiles (Fig. 1a) and bed
temperatures (Fig. 1b), for various fuel options (or
rice husk energy fractions) at the fuel feed rate of 82.5
82.8 kg/h. The bed temperatures provided for different
values of EA were conventionally related to a 1 m level
above the air distributor.
Analysis of the thermal characteristics for different fuel
options and operating conditions showed that the temperatures at all the location points in the conical FBC were
almost independent of EA, whereas they were noticeably
affected by EFrh. Moreover, the influence of EFrh on the
temperature characteristics was weakened for the higher

(3)

where a is estimated based on the experimental O2 (vol%)

and CO (vol%) concentrations in the dry flue gas [15]:
(a)

(b)
900

Bed temperature ( C)

900

800

800

Temp eratu re ( C)

(6)

The combustion efficiency, hc (LHV%), is determined by

the heat loss method to be:

(2)

qic Z 126:4a !CO100Kquc V 0 =LHV

(5)

The V0/LHV ratio in Eq. (3) is at fairly the same value for
a variety of solid fuels including biomass [14] and, hence, is
valid for the fuel blends. Note that V0 can be estimated with
the use of the fuel analysis on as-received basis [13,14].
Quantifying V0/LHV for the predominant biomass fuel, i.e.
rice husk, qic is then found based on the CO emission and a:

(1)

qic Z 126:4CO !Vdg 100Kquc =LHV

21
21KO2 K0:5CO

700
600
EFrh = 1
EFrh = 0.85
EFrh = 0.60

500

700
600

EA = 40%
EA = 60%
EA = 80%
EA = 100%

500
400

400
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Height above air distributor (m)

2.5

3.0

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Rice husk energy fraction

Fig. 1. Effects of the rice husk energy fraction on the axial temperature profiles in the conical FBC for EAZ60% (a) as well as on the bed temperature for
different EA (b).

(b)

20

20
EFrh = 1
EFrh = 0.85
EFrh = 0.60

15

O 2 concentration (vol.%)

O 2 concentration (vol.%)

(a)

10
5
0

15
10
EA = 40%
EA = 60%
EA = 80%
EA = 100%

5
0

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

0.0

Height ab ove ai r distr ibutor (m)

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Height ab ove ai r distr ibutor (m)

Fig. 2. Effects of the rice husk energy fraction (a) and excess air (b) on the axial O2 concentration profiles in the conical FBC for biomass (co-) firing at EAZ
60% for (a) and EFrhZ0.6 for (b).

contributions of rice husk to the heat input. All these effects

can be seen in Fig. 1b representing the bed temperatures.
For the particular EA, temperatures at all the combustor
locations were lowered with diminishing EFrh because of
the influence of fuel moisture affecting the fuel quality (or
its LHV). Though for EFrhZ0.6, the bed temperatures were
relatively low (of 650670 8C), the fuel ignition and
combustion in the conical FBC were quite stable when
firing this blended fuel with 45% rice husk mass fraction.
As seen in Fig. 1a, the profiles were almost uniform in the
bed region of the combustor (up to 1-m level above the air
distributor). However, slight positive temperature gradients
were observed in this region, and the peak temperatures
were found at the level of about 1 m above the air distributor
for all the test runs.
Meanwhile, in the freeboard region (of 13 m heights),
the temperature profiles were characterized by slight
negative gradients because of the reduced heat release in
this region and heat transfer (heat loss) across the combustor
walls.
Effects of the rice husk energy fraction and excess air on
the oxygen consumption rate along the conical FBC are
shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2a represents the influence of EFrh on

(b)

15

15

CO 2 concentration (vol.%)

CO 2 concentration (vol. %)

(a)

the axial O2 concentration profiles obtained for the same

operating conditions as in Fig. 1a. Unlike the temperatures,
O2 concentrations at various location points in the conical
FBC were found to be almost independent of the fuel
analysis. Accordingly, the axial O2 profiles for various
blended options were similar to the O2 profile obtained for
the case of firing pure rice husk (EFrhZ1). With a relative
error of about 15%, the dependencies in Fig. 2a could be
approximated by a single curve.
Meanwhile, for fixed EFrh, the effect of EA on the axial
O2 concentration profiles was, as expected, quite significant.
Fig. 2b illustrates this effect for the case of co-firing bagasse
and rice husk at EFrhZ0.6 for different values of EA.
Fig. 3 depicts the axial CO2 concentration profiles with
the aim of demonstrating the effects of EFrh and EA on
carbon dioxide formation in the reactor for the same
operating conditions as in Fig. 2. While Fig. 3a shows the
effect of EFrh for the fixed value of excess air, Fig. 3b
illustrates the influence of EA for the selected rice husk
energy fraction. The general conclusions on the influence of
the fuel properties and combustion conditions on the axial
CO2 profiles are the same as those related to the axial O2
concentration profiles.

10

EFrh = 1
EFrh = 0.85
EFrh = 0.60

10

EA = 40%
EA = 60%
EA = 80%
EA = 100%

0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Height above air distributor (m)

2.5

3.0

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Height above air distributor (m)

Fig. 3. Effects of the rice husk energy fraction (a) and excess air (b) on the axial CO2 concentration profiles in the conical FBC for biomass (co-) firing at EAZ
60% for (a) and EFrhZ0.6 for (b).

(a)

(b)

CO emission (ppm, 7% O2)

CO concentration (vol.%)

4
EFrh = 1
EFrh = 0.85
EFrh = 0.60

3
2
1
0
0.0

8000
EA = 40 %
EA = 60 %
EA = 80 %
EA = 100 %

6000
4000
2000
0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Height above air distributor (m)

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Rice husk energy fraction

Fig. 4. CO emission characteristics of the conical FBC: axial CO concentration profiles in the combustor for EAZ60% and different EFrh (a) as well as CO
emissions (in 7% O2 dry flue gas) for various EFrh and EA (b).

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the maximum rates of O2

consumption and CO2 formation were observed in the bed
region, indicating the highest rate of the combustion process
in the conical part of the combustor, for various fuel options
and operating conditions.
Small gradients of axial O2 and CO2 concentration
profiles in the freeboard volume indicated the occurrence of
the char and unburned gas oxidation processes in this
region. However, as may be concluded from the observation
of data in Figs. 1a, 2a and 3a, the contribution of the char
oxidation by O2 was negligible; otherwise, the O2 and CO2
concentration profiles in the freeboard region would be
certainly influenced by EFrh, whose variation led to the
noticeable differences in the temperature (affecting the char
reactivity) at any location point.
3.2. CO formation and reduction in the conical FBC
Fig. 4 shows the effects of EFrh and EA on the CO
emission characteristics of the conical FBC. The axial CO
concentration profiles represented in Fig. 4a were obtained
for the EA value of about 60% when (co-) firing the fuels at
different EFrh, whereas the CO emissions from the conical
FBC (i.e. CO concentrations in the 7% O2 flue gas at the
cyclone exit) depicted in Fig. 4b were obtained in the tests
of co-firing the fuels at various EFrh and EA.
For the selected fuel options and EA values, the axial CO
concentration profiles were found to have a maximum,
COmax, whose location (above the air distributor) divided
conventionally the combustor volume into formation
(lower) and reduction (upper) regions, as may be seen in
Fig. 4a.
Actually, the chemical reactions responsible for formation and decomposition of most compounds involved in
the combustion process proceed in both regions. However,
in this work, the terms formation region and reduction
region were applied to the conical FBC with the meaning of
the net result in each of the above regions.

In the test run with the maximum mass fraction of

bagasse in the fuel blend (or when EFrhZ0.6), COmax values
were significantly greater than those for EFrhZ0.85 and
firing pure rice husk. Two factors were likely responsible for
this effect: (1) lower temperatures (see Fig. 1a) leading to
the increased CO/CO2 ratio in carbon oxidation and (2)
higher concentrations of water vapor enhancing the
contribution of carbon wet oxidation (basically, to CO)
occurring on the surface of char particles, i.e. in
heterogeneous reactions [2,16].
As seen in Fig. 4a, a significant reduction in the CO
concentration took place in the freeboard region along the
combustor height. In this region, CO was oxidized in
homogeneous reactions with OH radicals and oxygen, both
being predominant in the freeboard region [17]. Because of
elevated concentrations of water vapor (and, accordingly,
OH radicals) in the flue gas, the highest rates (axial
gradients) of the CO reduction were obtained in the test runs
at EFrhZ0.6.
As follows from the data in Fig. 4b demonstrating the
combined effects of EFrh and EA on the CO emission from
the conical FBC, the effluent of this pollutant from the
combustor could be effectively controlled through maintaining the air supply. For the particular fuel option, the CO
emission was apparently reduced with an increase in EA
(varied within a reasonable range); however, the effects of
EA on the CO emission characteristics were weakened for
higher EA. Meanwhile, as could be generally concluded,
with an increase in the bagasse mass/energy fraction in the
blended fuel, the CO emission from the conical FBC was
increased when EA was maintained at the same value.
3.3. NO formation and reduction in the conical FBC
In this work, NOx emissions were represented by NO
only because no NO2 was detected in the test runs.
Fig. 5 shows the effects of EFrh and EA on the NO
emission characteristics of the conical FBC for the same

(b)

NO emission (ppm, 7% O 2)

NO concentr ation (ppm)

(a)
300

200

100

EFrh = 1
EFrh = 0.85
EFrh = 0.60

0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Height above air distributor (m)

3.0

250
EA = 40 %
EA = 60 %
EA = 80 %
EA = 100 %

200
150
100
50
0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Rice husk energy fraction

Fig. 5. NO emission characteristics of the conical FBC: axial NO concentration profiles in the combustor for EAZ60% and different EFrh (a) as well as NO
emissions (in 7% O2 dry flue gas) for various EFrh and EA (b).

fuel options and operating conditions as in Fig. 4: the axial

NO concentration profiles are shown in Fig. 5a, whereas the
NO emissions (i.e. NO concentrations in the 7% O2 flue gas
at the cyclone exit) are depicted in Fig. 5b. Like for CO, all
the axial NO concentration profiles possessed a maximum,
NOmax, whose location made it possible to distinguish
conventionally the formation and reduction regions for this
pollutant.
Because of the low temperature level in the conical
FBC (see Fig. 1), NO was expected to form in biomass
fuel combustion by the fuel-NO formation mechanism.
Basically, fuel-NO can be formed in the combustion
process through oxidation of nitrogenous species, such as
HCN and NH3, released from the fuel particles with the
volatile matter (mostly, in the bottom region) as well as
through oxidation of fuel-N retained in the char. In the
freeboard region, NO reduction may likely occur in
reactions with NH3 [18] and also with carbon and CO on
the char surface [19].
As seen in Fig. 5a, for the particular EA, the axial NO
concentration profiles were significantly influenced by EFrh.
At different location points in the conical FBC, the NO
concentrations were found to be greater for higher EFrh
because of elevated fuel-N and higher temperatures. In the
bottom region of the combustor, the rates of NO formation
reactions (i.e. HCN and NH3 oxidations) were obviously
greater than those of the NO decomposition, which resulted
in an increase in the NO concentration at all the points along
the bed height up to the NOmax value. However, in the
freeboard region, the axial NO concentration profiles were
found to decline because of the predominance of the above
NO reduction reactions.
Analysis of the dependencies in Fig. 5b showed that with
an increase in the bagasse mass/energy fraction in the
blended fuels, the NO emissions from the conical FBC were
mitigated when excess air was maintained at the same value.
Meanwhile, for the particular fuel option, with increasing
EA, the NO emissions from the conical FBC were
substantially increased. Together with the temperature
effects (resulted from the variation in EFrh), this fact

pointed at the fuel-NO formation mechanism during the

combustion of pure rice husk as well as when firing fuel
blends in this conical FBC.
3.4. CO and NO reduction in the ash-collecting cyclone
Because the cyclone and the gas duct connecting the
combustor top with the cyclone were not insulated,
substantial reduction in the flue gas temperature (by 210
270 8C) over the gas path from the combustor top to the
cyclone exit was observed in the test runs. Despite the
relatively low temperatures, both CO and NO reductions
were found to occur in the cyclone in all the test runs.
Table 3 provides actual concentrations of O2, CO and NO
measured in the conical FBC at the 2.75 m level above the
air distributor as well as at the cyclone exit for different fuel
options and operating conditions.
As follows from data in Table 3, the ratio of CO
reduction over the gas path combustor topcyclone exit,
ranging from 1.7 to 3.1 for different test runs, was found to
slightly increase with increasing both EFrh and EA, thus,
approaching the maximum values for firing rice husk at the
highest EA. The combustion (as CO oxidation accompanied
by reduction in O2) in the cyclone may indicate an imperfect
mixing in the top region of the conical FBC (because of the
significant transformation of the gas flow entering the gas
duct) leading to the occurrence of CO-rich and O2-rich
zones in this region; in such a case, the mixing and
combustion of the CO-rich and O2-rich gases take place in
the cyclone.
Meanwhile, the NO reduction ratios were found to be
much lower (1.151.45 only). However, like CO, the
reduction effect was somewhat stronger for firing rice
husk, likely due to the higher concentration of char/ash
particles catalyzing the reaction of NO with CO.
3.5. Effects of biomass co-firing on the combustion efficiency
For estimation of the combustion efficiency (as percentage of the LHV), the heat losses with unburned carbon and

Table 3
Actual concentrations of O2, CO and NO at the top of the conical FBC (2.75 m level above the air distributor) as well as at the cyclone exit for different fuel
options and excess air values
Fuel firing option

EA (vol.%)

Rice husk firing at EFrhZ1.0

39.7
60.4
81.1
100.2
38.7
61.4
79.6
98.6
37.2
60.2
81.1
100.8

Co-firing bagasse and rice

husk at EFrhZ0.85

Co-firing bagasse and rice

husk at EFrhZ0.60

Gas concentrations in FBC at the 2.75 m level: Gas concentrations at the cyclone exit
O2 (vol.%)

CO (ppm)

NO (ppm)

O2 (vol.%)

CO (ppm)

NO (ppm)

7.53
8.87
9.93
10.97
7.27
8.57
9.9
10.87
7.57
8.47
9.8
11.03

4705
3143
1981
1495
6117
4397
2126
1521
13,228
9220
7601
3295

158
191
203
235
131
140
156
165
119
128
135
144

6.07
7.97
9.43
10.53
6.03
8.1
9.37
10.47
6.07
8.13
9.57
10.63

2017
1183
626
502
3509
2288
1256
772
7571
4815
3216
1883

138
143
158
162
112
123
134
141
101
106
113
118

owing to incomplete combustion (depending on the CO

emission) were determined by the above models. Table 4
shows these heat losses and the combustion efficiencies for
the selected fuels (co-) fired at the 82.582.8 kg/h fuel feed
rate for different values of EA.
For firing pure rice husk (EFrhZ1), the unburned carbon
content was found to be in the range of 8.1 to 10.6% (by
weight) when EA varied from 39.7 to 100.2%, respectively.
This fact could be explained by the reduced residence time
of fuel particles during their transportation in this relatively
short combustor [2,4]. In accordance with the model, for
the particular EA, the heat loss with unburned carbon is
reduced for higher mass fractions of bagasse (or lower EFrh)
in the fuel blend.
On the contrary, for quasi-identical values of EA, the
heat loss owing to incomplete combustion increased for
greater mass/energy contributions by the bagasse because of
the increase in the CO emission.
As seen in Table 4, opposite behaviors of quc and qic with
the EA variation (for the fixed EFrh) resulted in the apparent
optimum values of EA. Thus, for EFrhZ0.85, the maximum
combustion efficiency (96.12%) corresponded to optimum
excess air of about 80%. Meanwhile, according to the
calculation results, the maximum combustion efficiency can

be improved from 96.08 to 96.35% with the increase in the

bagasse energy contribution.
Observing the data in Table 4, it was concluded that the
co-firing of sugar cane bagasse and rice husk in the conical
FBC at the rice husk energy fractions greater than 0.6
resulted in sustainable combustion, with 9596% combustion efficiency, at lower NO emissions compared to those for
firing pure rice husk.
Thus, through co-firing with rice husk, an effective use
of as-received sugar cane bagasse becomes feasible for
energy conversion in the fluidized-bed combustion
systems.

4. Conclusions
The conical fluidized-bed combustor (FBC) was successfully tested when co-firing 82.582.8 kg/h of as-received
sugar cane bagasse with rice husk for different mass/energy
fractions of rice husk in the blended fuel and various values
of excess air. However, attempts to burn the raw sugar cane
bagasse as well as the fuel blends at relatively low values of
the rice husk mass fraction failed in the preliminary tests of
this fluidized bed system.

Table 4
Heat losses and combustion efficiency of the conical FBC for different fuel options and excess air values
Fuel firing option

EA (vol.%)

quc (LHV%)

qic (LHV%)

hc (LHV%)

Rice husk firing at EFrhZ1.0

39.7
60.4
81.1
100.2
38.7
61.4
79.6
98.6
37.2
60.2
81.1
100.8

3.05
3.38
3.75
4.10
2.58
2.86
3.18
3.47
1.83
2.03
2.26
2.47

0.87
0.58
0.35
0.31
1.51
1.14
0.70
0.47
3.25
2.41
1.81
1.18

96.08
96.04
95.90
95.59
95.91
96.00
96.12
96.06
94.12
95.56
95.93
96.35

Co-firing bagasse and rice husk at EFrhZ0.85

Co-firing bagasse and rice husk at EFrhZ0.60

The co-firing of sugar cane bagasse and rice husk in

the conical FBC at the rice husk energy fractions greater
than 0.6 resulted in sustainable combustion, with 9596%
combustion efficiency, at the lower NO emissions
compared with those for the firing rice husk on its own.
Thus, through the co-combustion with rice husk, an
effective use of as-received sugar cane bagasse becomes
feasible for energy production in the fluidized-bed
combustion systems.
Some particular conclusions were made on the thermal
and emission characteristics of the conical FBC co-fired
with rice husk and bagasse:
the axial temperature profiles as well as bed
temperatures in the conical FBC were strongly affected
by the rice husk energy fraction, EFrh; however, the
bed temperatures were, in effect, independent of excess
air, EA;
the axial O2 and CO2 concentration profiles were
almost independent of EFrh (or fuel properties);
with increasing EFrh in the blended fuel, the CO
emission from the conical FBC was reduced for quasiidentical values of EA;
with the increasing bagasse mass/energy fraction in the
blended fuel, the NO emission from the conical FBC
was mitigated when EA was maintained at the same
value;
excess air, a key operating variable, could be
optimized for the particular EFrh with the aim of
achieving the maximum combustion efficiency; with
an increase in the proportion of bagasse in the blended
fuel, the optimum excess air was increased.

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