A Critical Investigation of Certificated Industrial Wood Pellet Combustion: Influence of Process Conditions on CO/CO2 Emission

Abstract

The pollutants emission into the atmosphere is largely related to human activity and health, whereas, of many factors, domestic heating systems greatly impact the emission rate. The measures taken to reduce the emission of harmful compounds to the atmosphere are slowly starting to bring the intended effects and a downward trend in emissions of such gases as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) is noticeable. The conducted tests allowed the determination of the combustion characteristics of individual pellet types available on the European market. During the tests, pellets were supplied to a 25 kW fixed-bed boiler with a constant mass flow of 3 kg·h−1, and the air-flow ratio was manipulated and presented in the form of the excess air coefficient λ (1.8–3.08). Pellets certificated with the ENPlus as A1 were found not meeting the requirements, mainly in the ash content, which negatively affected their combustion performance gradually and caused exceeded CO emissions up to 1000 mg·Nm−3. Pellets of declared lower classes were more beneficial for combustion in terms of emission factors.