ARTICLE IN PRESS

BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56

Available at www.sciencedirect.com

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biombioe

Thermogravimetric studies of the behavior of wheat straw

with added coal during combustion

Cuiping Wang, Fengyin Wang, Qirong Yang, Ruiguang Liang

College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Qingdao University, 266071, China

ar t ic l e i n f o abs tra ct

Article history: The combustion behavior of biomass and biomass–coal blends under typical heating
Received 24 October 2006 conditions was investigated. Thermogravimetric analyses were performed on bituminite
Received in revised form coal, aspen strawdust and wheat straw used alone and blended with different coal weight
10 April 2008 ratios. The behavior of biomass fuels in the burning process (different rates of
Accepted 11 April 2008 volatilization, char burning and heat production) was analyzed, and the effects of a cold
Available online 4 June 2008 molding procedure for wheat straw on the burning properties were investigated. In
addition, the kinetic parameters for the thermal conversion of each fuel were determined.
Keywords:
Cold molding led to easier firing, and 5% coal was identified as the ideal ratio to achieve
Wheat straw
similar heat release characteristics to strawdust. Such a mixed pellet fuel with burning
Aspen sawdust
characteristics similar to aspen wood can be produced to take advantage of the wide design
Biomass–coal blends
basis for wood-fired boilers.
Combustion behavior
& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Thermogravimetry

1. Introduction
Biomass, such as straw, grasses, wood shavings, sawdust,
roots, branches, leaves and bark, are used in different forms
for energy production. Many technologies have been studied
during the last two decades for biomass utilization, such as
combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction and super-
critical fluid extraction, and biochemistry technology [1–6].
Sometimes biofuel products are mixed with semi-fossil peat
and fossil coal to achieve better control of the burning
process. Methods for direct burning and the production of
gaseous or liquid derivatives, e.g. methane or ethanol, are
very desirable. Another growing market for biofuels is the
production of briquettes and pellets for the consumer market.
Biomass pellets can be used in grate furnaces and fluidized
bed combustion with many advantages, such as easy storage
and transfer of the pellets, higher burning efficiency, lower
pollution, lower dust and higher heat values. However, the
burning efficiency is biomass-specific and varies with the
boiler combustion efficiency and output. Few studies [7–11]
have been carried out on biomass pellets, and the thermal
properties and influence of pelleting processes on pellet
burning need to be studied in greater detail.
Pellet methods include hot molding (compressed at tempera-
tures 4200 1C), which can affect the structure of cellulose and
even lignin [7], and cold molding with the highest compression
temperature of 70–80 1C [9–11] has little effect on lignin, which is
conductive to an increase in cellulose cementation.
The present work was undertaken to determine whether
the cold molding method influences the combustion perfor-
mance and whether the addition of coal can modify the
burning velocity and unify the thermal properties of different
biomass fuels. Thermogravimetric studies of aspen sawdust,
wheat straw and wheat straw blends were carried out.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 532 85953720.

E-mail address: mrs.wangcuiping@gmail.com (C. Wang).
0961-9534/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2008.04.013
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56 51

chemical and elemental analyses and to TGA/DTA combus-

2. Materials and experiments tion experiments.

Wood sawdust pellet is an excellent biomass fuel and is more
and more widely used in biomass boilers. The burning
characteristics of biomass may very considerably depend on
the composition of the raw material used [8]. While, wheat
and corn straw products are plentiful in rural China, they are
studied in this paper to be a right supplement to sawdust
resources.
2.1. Preparation
The agriculture residues of wheat straws were from rural
North-China during the summer. After the seeds were
removed, the wheat straws were air dried for about 2 months.
Then the wheat straws were pulverized to millimeter-size in
the feed grinder. Another biomass material was aspen wood
sawdust, which was collected from the furniture factory in
Qingdao city; the aspen wood sawdust was grown in north
China about 5–10 years old. The sawdusts were dried at room
conditions (20 1C) for 1 month and screen sizing. A small
(75 kg h1) laboratory-scale pelleter did the cold molding at
the same palletizing condition, separately to press the wheat
straw powder and aspen sawdusts into 6-mm-diameter
pellets, with of 5–15-mm-length, necessarily adding 5% wt.
water into the powder and uniformly mixed in advance. Dry
density of the pellets was 1.45 kg m3, approximately calcu-
lated by weighing the pellet samples after room conditions for
half a month.
Bituminite coal (made in Datong, Shanxi Province, China)
powder was chosen as an additive for mixing with wheat
straw powder; the mean size of the additive coal was
approximately 80 mm, and the mixing ratios of 5%, 8% and
11% were selected.
The chosen materials are all very common and the pellets
are of low cost; accurately weighed samples were subjected to
2.2. Chemical and elemental analyses
Elemental analysis was carried out on an Elementar VarioEL
III instrument manufactured in Germany. Fuel analysis is
reported in Table 1.
Biomass typically has a volatile/fixed carbon (VM/FC) ratio
44.0, while the VM/FC ratio for coal is virtually always o1.0.
Thus, for biomass fuels, the predominant form of combustion
is gas-phase oxidation of the volatile species.
Using the addition of coal with a lower VM content, it is
possible to adjust the gas-phase combustion of biomass fuels
to a similar stage.
2.3. Combustion in TGA/DTA
Seven samples were analyzed, as shown in Table 2. Their
combustions were carried out in a TGA/SDTA model 851
instrument (Mettler Toledo, Switzerland).
The linear temperature gradient in TGA experiments was
10 K min1 for coal and 15 K min1 for wheat straw and the
blends. From the weight loss (TG) process, derivative thermo-
gravimetric (DTG) and difference in thermal analysis (DTA)
curves can be plotted.
The released heat can be calculated from the DTA curve as
described previously [12]:
Z 1
DQ ¼ b ½T  Tignition  dt ¼ bS ¼ b Dw h, (1)
ignition
where b is the heat transfer constant from the sample to the
metal wall; S is the area under the DTA curve; Dw is
the average width of the heat release peak; and h is the
thermopositive peak height. Neglecting the difference of b
constant between these biomass species, the area under the
DTA curve reflects the heat releasing state.

Table 1 – Fuel analysis (applied basis data)

Chemical analysis (%) Elemental analysis (%) LHV (kJ kg1) VM/FC ratio

VM FC Ash Water N C H O S

Sawdust 65.06 14.27 3.61 17.05 0.37 38.14 5.22 35.96 0.23 13992 4.56
Wheat straw (1) 66.8 15.0 9.28 9.0 1.01 36.9 5.52 37.9 0.4 13882 4.45
Wheat straw (2) 68.28 15.43 8.92 7.35 0.71 38.2 5.56 39 0.31 14275 4.42
Coal 17.45 52.80 28.55 1.19 0.66 59.19 3.71 5.51 1.50 23425 0.33

Table 2 – The samples and their marks used in the paper

Samples Bituminite Aspen Unmolded Wheat 89% wheat 92% wheat 95% wheat
coal wood wheat straw straw+11% coal straw+8% coal straw+5% coal
sawdust straw pellet pellet pellet pellet

Marks Coal Sawdust Wheat straw Wheat WS89%+C11% WS92%+C8% WS95%+C5%

(1) straw (2)
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
52 BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56

12 2.5
3. Results and discussion 100

10
2.0
Results of the TGA analysis are shown in Figs. 1–6, in which 80
TG
the TG, DTG and DTA curves are reported for the experi- 8
DTG

DTG [mgK-1]
mental samples as a function of temperature. According to 1.5

m/m0 [%]
60 DTA

DTA
6
A
12 2.5 40 1.0
100 IG
N TG 4
DTG 10 B
2.0 20 0.5
80 DTA 2
8 C D

DTG [mgK-1]
B 1.5 0
m/m0 [%]

60 M 0 0.0

DTA
A 6 400 500 600 700 800 900
T [K]
40 1.0
4 Fig. 4 – Thermal properties of wheat straw (2).

20 C D 0.5
2
100
WS89%+C11%
0 0 0.0 WS92%+C8%
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
WS95% C5%
T [K] 80

Fig. 1 – Thermal properties of the bituminite coal additive.

m/m0 [%]

60
12 2.5
100 TG
DTG
10 40
DTA 2.0
80
8
DTG [mgK-1]

1.5 20
m/m0 [%]

60
DTA

6 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

A
1.0 Temperature [K]
40
B 4
Fig. 5 – TG curves for biomass–coal blends.
20 0.5
2
C D 2.5
0 0 0.0
400 500 600 700 800 900 WS89%+C11%
T [K] 2.0 WS92%+C8%
WS95%+C5%
Fig. 2 – Thermal properties of aspen strawdust.
dm/dT [mgK-1]

1.5

12 2.5
100
1.0

TG 10
2.0
80
DTG 0.5
8
DTG [mgK-1]

DTA
1.5
m/m0 [%]

60
DTA

6 0.0
A 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
40 B 1.0
4 Temperature [K]

0.5 Fig. 6 – DTG curves for biomass–coal blends.

20 2
C
D

0 0 0.0 the fluctuation characteristics of the three curves, four typical

400 500 600 700 800 900
combustion stages are apparent. A, the dewatering period; B,
T [k]
volatilization and burning; C, char burning; and D, burnout, as
Fig. 3 – Thermal properties of wheat straw (1). shown in Figs. 1–4.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56 53

3.1. Thermal properties of coal and biomass materials
To determine the ignition temperature, two points on the TG
curve should first be identified. One (marked as M) is the point
at which a vertical line from the sharp DTG peak (highest
dm/dT value) crosses the TG curve. The other (marked as N) is
the point at which volatilization begins. A tangent to the TG
curve at M and another horizontal tangent to N are drawn.
The point at which these lines cross is marked as IG, which
corresponds to the ignition temperature. This process is
shown in Fig. 1, and the ignition point for coal is approxi-
mately 748 K.
The DTA curve has two clear thermopositive peaks for
volatile burning and char burning. The thermopositive peak
for volatile burning is short and lower, so less heat is released.
The stage C thermopositive peak is high, representing a large
release of heat.
The burning characteristics of the biomass and biomass–
coal blends are very similar, as shown in Figs. 2–6, with very
similar TG and DTG curves. At the start of DTG, there is a
higher peak for the biomass fuels compared to coal because
of their higher water content. Stage B lasts for a longer time,
while stage C is shorter. At the same linear temperature
gradient, aspen sawdust burns more slowly than wheat straw
(1) in the volatilization period. The DTG curve shows a peak at
approximately 1.4 mg K1, which is lower than that for wheat
straw (2.25 mg K1). Differences between wheat straw and
sawdust in the DTG curves are mostly during the volatiliza-
tion period. For stage D, the residue is lower than that for coal
based on the TG curve. Thus, improvement of wheat straw as
a replacement for sawdust fuel can be designed to adjust its
volatilization rate.
The DTA curves in Figs. 2–4 show that heat release for
wheat straw in the volatilization period finishes earlier
(narrow thermopositive DTA peak) than that for aspen
sawdust. In the char burning stage, aspen sawdust begins to
release heat earlier, and the thermopositive peak is wider.
For the blends, the differences generally indicate that the
lower the mixing ratio, the faster the weight loss. In Fig. 6, the
two DTG peaks are very slender. Although the width of the
two peaks is similar for the three fuel blends, the peaks are at
1.9 and 0.65 mg K1, 2.9 and 1.4 mg K1, and 3.75 and 1.55 mg
K1 for mixing ratios of 11%, 8% and 5%, respectively.
The figures show that all residues are higher than the ash
contents determined by the chemical analysis. This is
possibly related to the cylindrical shape of the burning
chamber, which may influence air easily reaching the fuel
at the bottom, the combustion needs longer time to complete
the burnout stage till the ash residues coincidence to the
chemical analysis.
3.2. Effect of cold molding on combustion
Comparison of Figs. 3 and 4 indicates that the molding
process has some effects on the combustion of wheat straw.
Except the similar dewatering period, the other three periods
show differences to some degree. The two DTG peaks of the
straw powder are all very slender, while the two peaks of the
straw pellet powder are wider (in 470–625 and 705–775 K). The
peaks points of the pellet powder are at 1.5 and 1 mg K1,
which are lower than those for wheat straw (1) (2.25 and
1.35 mg K1, respectively). After cold molding, the width of the
thermopositive peak in stage B is smaller and the heat release
area of VM becomes lower, the peak in stage C is higher so the
heat release area of FC is bigger. This indicates that the
molding procedure relatively reduces the VM content and
correspondingly increases the FC content. Overall, the heat
released by wheat straw (2) is greater, which implies
increased burning efficiency. For stage D of uncomplete
burnout, the residue for wheat straw pellet powder is
approximately 16.5% (Fig. 4) compared with approximately
20% for wheat straw 1) (Fig. 3). A lower residue correlates to
better burning efficiency under the same combustion condi-
tions.
All the analysis results are listed for comparison in Table 3.
3.3. Kinetic parameters
Activation energy and pre-exponential factors are discussed
here to evaluate the difficulty and intensity of thermal chemistry
reactions for the different fuels, under the same combustion
conditions of terminal temperature and heat-up rate.

Table 3 – Summary of TGA analysis

Fuel Temperature (K) Volatilization and burning Transition Char burning Burnout
period (K) residue
Dewatering Ignition Range E k0 Range E k0 (%)
(K) (kJ mol1) (K) (kJ mol1)

Coal 380 748 515–680 205.5 2.13E+13 680–710 710–900 92.9 9.76E+3 26
Strawdust 400 552 480–640 91.12 2.41E+4 640–670 670–770 52.8 16.6 13
Wheat straw 390 550 475–615 109.3 2.11E+6 615–710 710–755 171.7 3.87E+8 19
(1)
Wheat straw 390 535 470–625 88.2 2.24E+4 625–705 705–775 154.2 1.98E+7 12
(2)
WS89%+C11% 395 550 480–620 106.4 9.85E+5 620–710 710–800 152.6 7.3E+6 21
WS92%+C8% 390 552 500–605 111.5 3.77E+6 605–710 710–770 202.9 1.45E+11 20
WS95%+C5% 390 550 500–610 114.7 8.88E+8 610–705 705–760 209.6 2.64E+11 18.5
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
54 BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56

As previously explained [13] for a first-order thermal -4.5

chemistry reaction, the devolatilization kinetics and the rate coal
-5.0
of weight loss can be expressed as a global Arrhenius strawdust
decomposition Eq. (2) and mass action law (3): -5.5 wheat straw(1)
-6.0 wheat straw(2)
k ¼ k0 eE=RT (2)
-6.5 WS95%+C5%

ln (A)
dm -7.0
 ¼ ka (3)
dt -7.5
where k is the decomposition rate, k0 is the pre-exponential -8.0
frequency factor for the rate coefficient (s1); E is the
-8.5
activation energy (kJ mol1); R is the universal gas constant
8.3143 kJ K1 mol1; T is absolute temperature (K); and a is the -9.0
remaining quota of solid fuel. -9.5
Let A ¼ k=a ¼ ðdm=dtÞ=a; after logarithmic transformation,
1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0
the equation becomes
1000/T
E
lnðAÞ ¼ lnðk0 Þ  (4) Fig. 8 – Linear relationship for fuels in FC firing.
RT
Let Y ¼ ln(A), a ¼ ln(k0), b ¼ E/R, and x ¼ 1/T; then Eq. (4)
becomes:

Y ¼ a þ bx.
Using the known temperature T and the corresponding
calculated Y, the coefficients b and a can be obtained by fitting
the line in Originpro 7.0 software, so that E and k0 can be
calculated.
Because volatilization and char burning are two indepen-
dent periods, and the burning kinetic reactivity can be
regarded as the rising section, the data for T and Y
corresponding to volatilization and char kinetic burning are
filtered for fitting (Figs. 7 and 8, respectively).
E and k0 are calculated using the fitted coefficient, as listed
in Table 3. E for the volatilization period is greater than that
for char burning, which is in agreement with the high ignition
temperature and the char inflammability. The char burning
stage shows a better degree of correlation.
For the biomass fuels, the data for ln(A) and 1000/T show
better linear correlation to the fitting lines in the volatilization
period (the main burning stage, as for coal) in Fig. 7, but the
dependence relationship is poorer in the char burning stage,
-7
coal
strawdust
-8 wheat straw(1)
wheat straw(2)
WS95%+C5
-9
ln (A)
(5)
as observed in Fig. 8. We deduced that biomass char burning
is always too short to obtain enough measured points, so the
fitting error is large. The data for wheat straw and WS–coal
blends are almost linear, but are far away from the data for
sawdust and coal. The values calculated k0 and E for the char
burning stage are greater than that for coal (compared in
Table 3). Because char firing involves charcoal and biomass
char for blends of 8% and 5%, the linear relationship in the
char burning stage is poorer and E and k0 are also greater.
Perhaps this is why previous papers only dealt with the
kinetics of pure fuel combustion.
It is evident from Table 3 that E and k0 for sawdust are low,
which indicates that this fuel is easy to burn and the burning
ranges last longer, so sawdust is a good fuel. The cold molding
process reduced the ignition temperature for wheat straw by
approximately 15 K. In addition, the temperature range in the
volatilization stage was 475–615 K for wheat straw (1) and
470–625 K for wheat straw (2), an increase of approximately
15 K. The increase is approximately 25 K for the char burning
stage. The activation energy for the oxidation reaction also
decreased from 109.3 to 88.2 kJ mol1 in volatilization and
from 171.7 to 154.2 kJ mol1 in char burning after molding.
These improvements in combustion highlight the advantages
of cold molding of wheat straw biomass.
3.4. Comparison of combustion similarity
Fig. 9 shows the heat released for different ratios of coal

added to wheat straw (1). Aspen sawdust released heat more

continuously from the volatilization stage to char burning,
-10 and the transition between the two peaks is a shallow trough.
For wheat straw (1), there is clearly a transition to lower heat
-11 release, and the heat release in the char burning stage lasts
for a shorter time. The lower the mixing ratio, the higher the
heat release; the two peaks are at 6.8 and 7.6 for 11 wt% coal,
-12 7.7 and 9.8 for 8 wt% coal, and 8.3 and 9.95 for 5 wt% coal. For
1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0
weight ratios of 8% and 5%, heat release in the transition
1000/T
stage is higher for the latter, and the two peaks and the
Fig. 7 – Linear relationship for fuels in VM firing. transition stage are close to those for sawdust, although the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56 55

two peaks occur at lower and higher temperatures, respec-
tively, compared to sawdust. With decreasing weight ratio,
the transition period is increasingly like a third peak, so the
sample with 5% coal releases heat in a similar manner to
sawdust and shows the most ideal combustion similarity.
Similar results for modifying and improving other biomass
resources can be used to identify those best suited to
supplement sawdust.
mance. If mixed with a suitable ratio of coal additive, for
example, lower than 8%, the CCF is improved, to a value as
high as 4.98 for a ratio of 5%. Thus, the conclusion can be
drawn that 5 wt% coal as an additive can improve the
combustion performance of wheat straw as a pellet fuel.
4. Conclusions

3.5. Comparison of combustion characteristic factor
A parameter called the combustion characteristic factor (CCF)
[14] can be used as a criterion for fuel combustion perfor-
mance, defined as
ðdw=dtÞmax ðdw=dtÞmean
S¼ , (6)
T2i Th
where (dw/dt)max is the maximum burning velocity (%min1);
(dw/dt)mean is the average burning velocity (%min1); Ti is
the ignition temperature (K); and Th is the burnout
temperature (K).
This factor, which encompasses the ease of ignition, the
firing velocity and burnout temperature, is a comprehensive
parameter, used here to compare the combustion perfor-
mance of biomass fuels.
CCF values were calculated for several biomass fuels and
are listed in Table 4. The values are greater than 2 for all the
biomass fuels, indicating their good general burning perfor-
10
8 coal is added to biomass, the volatilization rate is modified,
6
DTA
In this study, TGA–DTA experiments were performed on a
number of biomass species relevant for use as fuels. Some
quantitative characteristics during dewatering, volatilization,
char burning and burnout stages are listed and compared. All
biomass fuels showed volatilization as the predominant
combustion process, almost with its short char conflagration
stage and longer burn-off stage. Combustion of wheat straw
(1) showed a longer transition stage between volatilization
and char burning, so mixing with a coal additive represents a
method to modify the biofuel and obtain a more continuous
heat-release process.
It was observed that the cold molding procedure is
favorable for firing properties, such as lower ignition tem-
perature, shorter transition stage between volatile burning
and char burning, extended heat release, and a reduction in
combustion residue. Thus, biomass fuel pellets are superior
to the direct burning of biomass powder.
A basic kinetic analysis for each species is provided. The
kinetic parameters reveal that sawdust is a premium fuel for
easy burning.
The comprehensive parameter CCF for all biomass fuels in
this project was greater than 2, indicating good combustion
performance. When 5 wt% coal was added to wheat straw, the
blend showed an improved CCF of 4.98.
In general, the above TGA–DTA analysis revealed that when
the heat released is affected and the combustion residue is
reduced under the same final combustion temperature; thus,

the combustion efficiency is increased. A project involving the

addition of coal to improve the combustion of biomass fuel
4 strawdust pellets is feasible. By adding a coal to less than satisfactory
wheat straw(1) agricultural residues, a mixed pellet fuel with burning
2
WS89%+C11% characteristics similar to aspen wood can be produced to
WS92%+C8% take advantage of the wide design basis for wood-fired
WS95%+C5% boilers. For wheat straw as a substitute for aspen sawdust,
0 5 wt% of bituminite coal is the ideal additive ratio to achieve
500 600 700 800 900
close heat release to that for the aspen sawdust.
T [K]

Fig. 9 – Heat release process.

Table 4 – Combustion characteristic factor S for biomass fuels

(dm/dt)max (dm/dt)mean Ti (K) Th (K) S  10–7 Order

Strawdust 18.4 3.37 552 770 2.643 5

Wheat straw 28.3 3.15 550 755 3.9 3
WS89%+C11% 22.94 2.79 550 800 2.644 4
WS92%+C8% 32.47 2.87 552 770 3.97 2
WS95%+C5% 39.93 2.87 550 760 4.98 1
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
56 BIOMASS AND BIOENERGY 33 (2009) 50 – 56

R E F E R E N C E S [8] Liu SY, Li Y, Xu GZ, Yue JZ, Li WL, Xie HJ, et al. Experimental
study of gas concentration distribution in the hearth of straw
briquette boiler. Transactions of the CSAE 2005;21(11):133–6
[in Chinese].
[1] Demirbas MF, Mustata B. Recent advances on the production
[9] Mani S, Tabil LG, Sokhansanj S. Effects of compressive force,
and utilization trends of bio-fuels: a global perspective.
particle size and moisture content on mechanical properties
Energy Conversion and Management 2006;47:2371–81.
of biomass pellets from grasses. Biomass and Bioenergy
[2] Demirbas A. Biomass resource facilities and biomass con-
2006;30(7):648–54.
version processing for fuels and chemicals. Energy Conver-
[10] Wang M, Guo KQ, Zhu WR. A preliminary study on the
sion and Management 2001;42:1357–78.
preparation of pressurized straw briquitte. Transactions of
[3] Demirbas A. Combustion characteristics of different biomass
the CSAE 1993;9(1):99–103 [in Chinese].
fuels. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science
[11] Fan FM, Zhang BL, Li BQ, Liu SY. Physical properties of
2004;30:219–30.
briquettes from coarse biomass. Journal of Agro-Environ-
[4] Miles TR, Miles Jr TR, Baxter LL, Bryers RW, Jenkins BM, Oden
ment Science 2005;24(2):398–402 [in Chinese].
LL. Boiler deposits from tiring biomass fuels. Biomass and
[12] Xiao J, Duan JC, Wang H, Zhuang XG. Study on co-firing of
Bioenergy 1996;10(2):125–38.
biomass with coal part (II) analyse of their co-firing com-
[5] Heinzel T, Siegle V, Spliethoff H, Hein K RG. Investigation of
bustion performance. Coal Conversion 2003;26(2):43–7
slagging in pulverized fuel co-combustion of biomass and
[in Chinese].
coal at a pilot-scale test facility. Fuel Processing Technology
[13] Liang XH, Kozinski JA. Numerical modeling of combustion
1998;54:109–25.
and pyrolysis of cellulosic biomass in thermogravimetric
[6] Tillman DA. Biomass cofiring: the technology, the experience,
systems. Fuel 2000;79:1477–86.
the combustion consequences. Biomass and Bioenergy
[14] Nie QH, Sun SZ, Li ZQ. Thermogravimetric analysis on the
2000;19:365–84.
combustion characteristics of brown coal blends. Combus-
[7] Rhén C, Öhman RG, Wästerlund I. Effect of raw material
tion Science and Technology 2001;7:71–6.
composition in woody biomass pellets on combustion
characteristics. Biomass and Bioenergy 2007;31(1):66–72.