The use of agricultural residues, wood briquettes and logs for small-scale domestic heating

Abstract

Large amounts of agricultural residues are produced annually in the UK alone, which presents a significant biomass energy resource. It has limited availability in briquetted form in the UK but is widely used, particularly in Asia. The aim of this work is to assess the emission from briquetted agricultural residues to wood fuel, including commercial wood briquettes, when utilised in a 5 kW domestic heating stove. Other straw-type materials, sugarcane bagasse, Miscanthus, were also investigated. The combustion behaviour depended on the chemical and physical nature of the briquettes. Results indicate that fuel choice is an important consideration for emission reduction. Fuel-N directly correlates to emitted NOx and all the fuels studied had NOx emissions below the EU regulation limit. While agricultural residues can be relatively high in Cl and S, there is evidence of in-situ capture of HCl and SO2 by calcium salts in the fuel ash. Particulate emissions correlate with the volatile matter in the fuel, but also are influenced by the quality/durability of the briquette. The briquettes performed well compared to wood logs, and while there is a fuel-type influence on emissions, it is also clear that briquettes from optimised manufacture can be lower emitting than wood logs.