title: Predicting gaseous emissions from small-scale combustion of agricultural biomass fuels.
abstract: A prediction model of gaseous emissions (CO, CO2, NOx, SO2 and HCl) from small-scale combustion of agricultural biomass fuels was developed in order to rapidly assess their potential to be burned in accordance to current environmental threshold values. The model was established based on calculation of thermodynamic equilibrium of reactive multicomponent systems using Gibbs free energy minimization. Since this method has been widely used to estimate the composition of the syngas from wood gasification, the model was first validated by comparing its prediction results with those of similar models from the literature. The model was then used to evaluate the main gas emissions from the combustion of four dedicated energy crops (short-rotation willow, reed canary grass, switchgrass and miscanthus) previously burned in a 29-kW boiler. The prediction values revealed good agreement with the experimental results. The model was particularly effective in estimating the influence of harvest season on SO2 emissions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Université Boulevard, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada; Research and Development Institute for the Agri-Environnement, 2700 Einstein Street, Quebec City, Quebec G1P 3W8, Canada. Electronic address: sebastien.fournel@irda.qc.ca.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fournel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Université Boulevard, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Institute for the Agri-Environnement, 2700 Einstein Street, Quebec City, Quebec G1P 3W8, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Godbout
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Université Boulevard, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heitz
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000737:chemistry*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012408:Rubber / Q000737:chemistry; D012621:Seasons; D013455:Sulfur / Q000032:analysis; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D056804:Biofuels; D005740:Gases; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D013455:Sulfur; D012408:Rubber
keywords: Agricultural biomass combustion; Gaseous emissions; Gibbs free energy; Prediction model