Comparison of non-woody biomass properties for energy generation

The calculation of heating value is one of the most important properties of biomass fuels to calculate the design or simulation of thermal conversion systems for energy production from biomass. Biomass with higher thermal energy value and optimal composition is more desirable for the systems. In present investigation, properties of eight types of non-woody biomass relevant to combustion were evaluated. Important characteristics requiring analysis were moisture and ash content, volatile matter, elemental composition (C, H, N, S, and O), high and low heating values (HHV and LHV) of these residues. The heating value has been evaluated based on experimental (by colorimeter bomb) and computational methods. The content of sulfur is a limiting factor for environmental pollution and was higher than other reports. The high percentage of ash in bagasse Pith requires the use of it as mixing with bagasse in order to increase the efficiency of the energy production system. It is recommended to mix bagasse pith with bagasse due to the high amount of ash in order to increase the efficiency of energy conversion systems. Regarding to the volatile matter, bagasse and reed are superior to the rest of biomass to produce energy by gasification system. The highest heating values were obtained for corn straw and bagasse and the lowest heating values were for bagasse pith and rice straw, respectively. There is good correlation between the methods of heating value determination, so it shows that the proper computational model has been used.